This article presents a review of literature exploring five different perspectives on mathematical modeling in mathematics education. Because there is not a single agreed-on definition of what mathematical modeling is or how it should be done, a focused and extensive review of mathematical modeling is essential. The five broad classifications…

We report some of the common, prevalent conceptual resources that students used to reason about energy, based on our analysis of written responses to questions given to 807 introductory physics students. These resources include, for example, associating forms of energy with indicators, relating forces and energy, and representing energy…

This paper suggests that language study focus its attention more on the pedagogical needs of educators by offering them a more comprehensive dialectical and unifying theory of language development that could then present the process as a holistic endeavor instead of as a set of separate linguistic acquisitions. Specifically, it suggests the use…

This article investigates how adults attain concepts, how instructional materials can be designed for adults, and how instructional messages related to concept attainment can be delivered to adults. An extensive bibliography is attached. (RAO)

Introduces a special issue on the ways in which symbolic tools enable, mediate, and shape mathematical thinking while being themselves a product of these processes. (Author/MM)

This paper traces the evolution of a theory of learning in nature in order to explain how people learn in natural settings. The intellectual roots of the theory in informal learning, cognition, affective development, experiential and meaningful learning are described and the synthesis into a comprehensive theory of learning in nature are…

A constructionist theory is described that accounts for the knowledge-based inferences that are constructed when readers comprehend narrative text. Distinctive assumptions of the constructionist theory embrace a principle of search (or effort) after meaning. Literature in support of the theory is reviewed. (SLD)

The conceptual development of schema theory, the way an individual organizes knowledge, is discussed, reviewing a range of perspectives regarding schema. Schema has been defined as the interfacing of incoming information with prior knowledge, clustered in networks. These networks comprise a superordinate concept and supporting information. The…

Discusses Jean Piaget's notion of equilibrium--the propensity to reduce conceptual conflict--in relation to early childhood education. Presents an instructional model that has the teacher raising children's conceptual conflict through a series of open-ended questions. (FL)

This use of the term "student's misconceptions" reflects a knowledge transmission view of teaching rather than a constructivist view. Among science educators there has been an undue emphasis on changing student views into views accepted by the scientific community. This overemphasis mirrors the preoccupation with transmitting the "right answer"…

Reviews literature on conceptual conflict as facilitator of student learning and alternative conceptions, describes theories explaining occurence of alternative conceptions and conflict role in conceptual change, discusses a model of learning as conceptual change and its instructional implications, and presents results of studies which apply the…

Discusses cognitive style (the degree to which perception is influenced by environmental variables) and cognitive control (which focuses on the regulation of perception by the ego). Concepts addressed include field dependence-independence, field articulation, conceptual style, cognitive tempo, intrusive information, focal attention, and…

Investigates the mediating effect of learner self-concept between conceptions of learning and students' approaches to learning using structural equation modeling. Results indicate that learner self-concept does mediate between conceptions of meaning and approaches to learning. Implications for teachers are discussed, with consideration given to…

This paper reports on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for the characterization of models and modeling that can be useful in application to chemistry education. The underlying argument marks a departure from an emphasis on concepts that are the outcomes of chemical inquiry about how knowledge growth occurs through modeling in chemistry.…

A new conceptualization of interpersonal relationship, based on the notions of specific and generalized expectancies and other basic tenets of Rotter's social learning theory, is presented. Interpersonal relationships are translated into the language of social learning theory, with its established body of literature and methodology. Two studies…