This paper discusses research on the processes by which individuals progress toward expertise in scientific domains, focusing on the activity of constructing qualitative problem representations during solution of standard mechanics problems in physics. It includes information on: (1) descriptive analyses of problem-solving performance; (2)…

Described is a project involving the introduction of microcomputers into the laboratory portion of a college general physics course for data collection and analysis. The results of an evaluation of this program are presented. (CW)

To increase the connection between educational research and educational practice, a process called "curriculum reformulation" was used to incorporate recent advances in research on learning and instruction into science classroom experiences. The cognitive demands of a thermodynamics curriculum were successively refined while maintaining…

The target of difficulty of the Educational Technology Center (ETC) Heat and Temperature Group is basic thermal physics, particularly the differentiation between heat and temperature. High school teachers often find that thermal concepts are very difficult for their students to master and attribute students' difficulties at least in part to the…

Two classroom studies, one conducted in the spring of 1985 and the second in the spring of 1986, showed that many high school students do not differentiate between heat and temperature; instead, they have a single concept that contains some of the features of heat and some of the features of temperature. Because the distinction between these two…

The concept of the density of a material has an important role in elementary and secondary school science curricula, but it is a difficult concept to grasp. This project explores why this should be and whether there are some simpler, more accessible notions which can serve as the basis for building a concept of density in students' minds during…