This edited volume presents innovative current research in the field of Science Education. The chapter's deal with a wide variety of topics and research approaches, conducted in a range of contexts and settings. Together they make a strong contribution to knowledge on science teaching and learning. The book consists of selected presentations from…

Investigated the influence that changing the form of the learning cycle's exploration/expansion phases had on the content understandings developed by students and their attitudes toward the learning procedures used. The naturalistic data presented show that students believed learning physics is enhanced by the regular-form learning cycle (which…

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…

This research investigated the value students attached to the laboratory activities while studying physics using the learning cycle curriculum construction and teaching procedures. Among the procedures used to supply students laboratory data were video-taped demonstrations, "live" teacher demonstration, presenting data in written form…

Secondary physics students were interviewed to determine their expectations/actions in laboratory work. Results indicate preference for laboratory activities because such exercises help students remember, are less confusing, and more concrete. Use of the laboratory as an introduction to a concept, followed by discussion, was a key component to…

Preliminary results from a study of students' conceptions in introductory rotational physics are discussed. Analyses of data from problem solving interviews and written diagnostic tests provided evidence that many students had a poor qualitative understanding of torque. Even among students who answered questions correctly a percentage did so for…

Presents data which leads to the construction of a response to the question of how different phases of the learning cycle influence physics students' content achievement and attitudes. Discusses the importance of the learning cycle in science instruction and the strength of using contrasting techniques (qualitative and quantitative) in research.…

Discussed is a constructivist model of science learning and its possible use in the treatment of science misconceptions. Science learning as conceptual and methodological change is described. (KR)

A learning cycle consists of three phases: exploration; conceptual invention; and expansion of an idea. These phases parallel Piaget's functioning model of assimilation, disequilibrium and accommodation, and organization respectively. The learning cycle perceives students as actors rather than reactors to the environment. Inherent in that…

This document focuses on evidence from problem solving case studies which indicate that analogy, extreme case analogies, and physical intuition can play an important role as forms of nonformal reasoning in scientific thinking. Two examples of nonformal reasoning are examined in greater detail from 10 case studies of "expert" problem solving.…

In this paper examples of the role of analogical reasoning in expert problem solving are presented. These are intended to show that using an analogy can change an expert's understanding of a problem situation by changing the conceptual model he or she uses to think about the situation. This suggests that using a good analogy may allow students to…

In this study 34 spontaneous analogies produced by 16 college freshmen while solving qualitative physics problems are analyzed. A number of the analogies were invalid in the sense that they led to an incorrect answer from the physicist's point of view. However, many were valid, and a few were powerful in the sense that they seemed not only to help…

Three purposes of this study were to: (1) propose some organizing theoretical and observational definitions of the anchor construct; (2) present some initial findings from a diagnostic test designed to uncover anchors for high school physics instruction; and (3) provoke an initial discussion of the new methodological issues that arise in this…

This paper begins with a summary and analysis of Robert Glaser's arguments, presented in his paper "Education and Thinking: The Role of Knowledge," which contend there are strong interactions between structures of knowledge and cognitive processes, and that problem solving and reasoning are taught best in the context of the acquisition…