This paper details how memory protocols obtained in individual interviews may be translated to scores on several dimensions suggested by White. White's nine dimensions are: (1) extent, (2) precision, (3) internal consistency, (4) accord with reality, (5) variety of types of element, (6) variety of topics, (7) shape, (8) ratio of internal to…

Explored 4- and 5-year-old immigrant and nonimmigrant children's words and silences when they were asked about similarities and differences among 4 ethnic dolls. Found that skin color was salient in children's thought processes about appearance and identity. Recommended that educators listen to children's voices and silences to help children build…

Written descriptions by students in grades 3-7 (n=274) of common 2-dimensional geometric shapes were examined to compare the level descriptors of the van Hiele Theory and the SOLO Taxonomy. Results indicate that descriptors associated with the SOLO Taxonomy more accurately describe the quality of student thinking. (MDH)

Examines whether young children hold naive conceptions of speed and whether the nature of their concepts could be a causal factor in pedestrian accidents. Finds that children hold a range of beliefs regarding the concept of speed that would place them at risk. (Author/YP)

The substantial interest exhibited in the last decade in the identification of students' misconceptions of a wide range of scientific concepts has not extended to identification of students' misconceptions of the nature of science itself. This study examined the attitudes of 32 secondary school students, each from Canada, the United States, and…

This paper addresses the evidence that secondary school students use to imply that they understand something in mathematics. As part of a larger study, an open-ended questionnaire probing several aspects of metacognitive self-knowledge, was administered to students (N=72) in four schools. Two previously identified types of understanding were…

This paper describes the actions of one secondary school mathematics teacher in establishing a community of mathematical practice within which students acquire not only knowledge and skills, but also the epistemological values of mathematics. Classroom observations over a period of 18 months, together with interview and questionnaire data, are…

New electronic technologies provide powerful tools for managing and processing the rapidly increasing amounts of information available for learning; teachers, however, have often been slow in integrating computers into the curriculum. This study addresses the question of how prospective teachers construct affective and cognitive models about…

Videotaped interviews of 29 Australian students from grades 1-3 were analyzed to assess and compare the processing loads of mathematical representations and strategies used by teachers and children to learn the concept of place value. Results indicated that some representations and strategies impose an unnecessary processing load that can…