The main goal of this study was to validate the strategy for the assessment of the cognitive complexity of chemical kinetics exam items. The strategy included three steps: 1) assessment of the difficulty of concepts, 2) assessment of distractor value, and 3) assessment of concepts' interactivity. One of the tasks was to determine whether there…

Metacognition refers to a set of processes an individual uses in monitoring ongoing cognition so as to effectively control his or her own behavior. In this article, I discuss key frameworks for characterizing metacognition and describe approaches to measuring metacognition. Modern research in metacognition assumes that monitoring of cognition…

Cognitive scientists investigate mental models (how humans organize and structure knowledge in their minds) so as to understand human understanding of and interactions with the world. Cognitive and mental model research is concerned with internal conceptual systems that are not easily or directly observable. The goal of this research was to…

The purpose of this paper is to provide an operational definition of college readiness that differs in scope from current representations of this concept. This paper suggests that, although much has been learned about this phenomenon, particularly during the past 20 years, few systematic attempts have been made to integrate the various aspects or…

The period from adolescence through young adulthood is one of great promise and vulnerability. As teenagers approach maturity, they must develop and apply the skills and habits necessary to navigate adulthood and compete in an ever more technological and globalized world. But as parents and researchers have long known, there is a crucial dichotomy…

This article reports on a research effort that investigated whether the use of Microcomputer-Based Labs (MBLs), implemented within an inquiry-based activity sequence on phase transformations (melting and freezing), contributes to the development of fourth grade (9-10 year-old) students' conceptual understanding and ability to construct and…

We provide here a brief historical analysis of a movement in progress from a belief-based "mystery" model to an evidence-based "mastery" model of giftedness and talent development. We have observed that educators concerned about exceptionally capable learners are moving from a categorical notion of "the typical gifted child" with somewhat…