Approximately 500 nonscience major university chemistry students were surveyed to record their interpretations of specific chemical symbolism before presenting modern concepts of atomic and molecular structure, in an attempt to understand the thought processes entering students use as they interpret symbolism. Results are reported and discussed.…

Highlights the value and need for instruction in logic in the sciences. Describes a geology course for nonmajors which incorporates elements of logic. Explains how principles were identified and how materials and activities were developed for the course. (ML)

Contemporary researchers often refer to the information processing paradigm to exlain the relative ineffectiveness of contemporary instructional techniques for modifying incorrect scientific concepts that students often bring to a learning situation. As a result of this research, instructional procedures have been developed that maximize the…

Reviews a study which sought to assess the influence of field activities, as compared to classroom-contained activities, upon students in an earth science laboratory course. Test results indicated that both groups had identical levels of lower-order learning but the field-oriented group demonstrated higher levels of understanding and application.…

This paper analyzes Bogdanov's theory of knowledge as found in philosophical dialogues and essays. The style of Bogdanov's writing and his ideas on philosophy, science, scientific constructs, truth, human knowledge, objectivity and ethics are discussed. These ideas are compared to the constructivist view of knowledge. (CW)

One approach to the study of cognitive processes highlights the distinctions between expert and novice problem solvers. This approach attempts to discover how experts and novices differ in the way they organize, retain and use domain related knowledge. It appears to some that what is learned from expert-novice research can help teachers to teach…

This investigation examined the relationship between problem solving ability and the criteria used to decide whether two classical mechanics problems could be solved similarly. The investigators began by comparing experts and novices on a similarity judgment task and found that experts predominantly relied on the problems' deep structure in…

Describes three types of chemical content, learning strategies for each type, and methods of teaching students to use the appropriate strategies. Provides suggestions for improving students' ability to learn. (CW)

The purpose of this study was to develop a procedure for the evaluation of M-demand of chemistry problems. It was shown that dimensional analysis upon the Neo-Piagetian theory of Pascual-Leone could help science teachers to understand the epistemological basis of their discipline. (CW)

Characteristics of successful and unsuccessful problem solvers in categorization tasks are examined in this study of undergraduate students. Findings are reviewed of the categorization and solution tasks undertaken by a group (N=21) of science majors at a private university. The subjects were classified as either successful or unsuccessful in…

Selected research studies that explore the assumption that college science students operate at a formal cognitive level are presented in this information digest. Studies are reviewed that relate to the areas of: (1) formal thought (examining the relationship between measured formal thought and that required to understand formal college physical…

Reviews the background leading to the development and evaluation of problems to examine student ability to do qualitative reasoning, applying concepts rather than algorithms. Describes creation of quantitative and qualitative problem papers, summarizes results, and proposes distinctions based on cognitive difficulty. (JM)

Suggests a model of human cognition by describing similarities between human and electronic computers. This model might guide the development of software so that it is sufficiently powerful and flexible to be of value to human computers as they construct new knowledge in chemistry. (JN)

Student knowledge in a subject area prior to and after instruction has traditionally been assessed by administering a pre- and post-test, usually multiple choice, though recent studies criticize the use of even the best-constructed multiple choice tests. This study assessed college freshmen's knowledge before and after a laboratory experience in…

Discusses a study which explored the possible value of the history of science to understanding student misconceptions. Focused on photosynthesis and examined relationships between students' conceptual difficulties and the transformation of concepts through time. Student responses suggest that the history of science can be used to anticipate…