In line with the growing interest in extending the diversity of CS students, we examined the performance of a unique group of students studying an introductory course in Digital logic: ultraorthodox Jewish men, whose previous education was based mostly on studying Talmud and who lacked a conventional high-school education. We used questions from…

In this article we present an integrative framework of knowledge for teaching the standard algorithms of the four basic arithmetic operations. The framework is based on a mathematical analysis of the algorithms, a connectionist perspective on teaching mathematics and an analogy with previous frameworks of knowledge for teaching arithmetic…

This study examined the reflection interview as a tool for assessing and facilitating the use of "systems language" amongst 11th grade students who have recently completed their first year of high school biology. Eighty-three students composed two concept maps in the 10th grade--one at the beginning of the school year and one at its end.…

What is Israel in the minds and hearts of young American Jewish children? Through interviews and photo and music elicitation exercises, this research uncovers how day school kindergarten students conceive of Israel. This study, part of an ongoing longitudinal project, shows how 5- and 6-year-old children are able to form a multilayered conception…

Threshold concepts are essential ideas about the natural world that present either a barrier or a gateway to a deep understanding of science. Weight, mass, and gravity are threshold concepts that underpin students' abilities to understand important ideas in all fields of science, embodied in the performance expectations in the Next Generation…

The present research aims at pinpointing differences in spontaneous and non-spontaneous mental models of water cycle conceptions of two 4th grade student groups: the Jewish residents of a small provincial town and a group of students from an indigenous Bedouin community. Students' conceptions were elicited using the Repertory Grid technique as…

The development of students' (n=80) conceptions of matter was investigated. Students' ideas about matter were examined by asking students to verbally explain what matter means and to classify items into matter and nonmatter. A major difficulty is indicated by students regarding the concept of matter. (KR)

The consistency, if any, with which force concepts are used by individual students in different, but closely related, contexts was investigated. A total of 534 university and high school students were tested to elicit their beliefs about the forces acting on various objects. Students' beliefs about the forces acting on objects at rest and in…

Describes a diagnostic evaluation to measure the idea of the living cell as the basic unit of life. Describes the classification of student knowledge as common knowledge, wide-spread lack of knowledge, inadequate alternatives, and contradictions. (YP)

A sample of eighth grade Israeli pupils was interviewed to assess their understanding of some aspects of the particle model of matter. Results show that a significant position of the sample failed to internalize important aspects of the model. Reinforcement of these aspects in pupils' ongoing learning is recommended. (HM)