Students often struggle with concepts from abstract algebra. Typical classes incorporate few ways to make the concepts concrete. Using a set of woven paper artifacts, this paper proposes a way to visualize and explore concepts (symmetries, groups, permutations, subgroups, etc.). The set of artifacts used to illustrate these concepts is derived…

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of embedded teaching through the most-to-least prompting procedure in concept teaching to children with autism in Orff-based music activities. In this research, being one of the single subject research designs, multiple probe design was used. The generalization effect of the research…

Although generalization from training to practice is one of the most important goals of education, generalization oftentimes does not occur spontaneously and deliberate planning is necessary. One way to enhance generalization to real-world settings is to build in similarities between training and test situations by including video in training.…

This study concerns 182 first year mathematics undergraduates' perspectives on the tangent line of function graph in the light of a previous study on Year 12 pupils' perspectives. The aim was the investigation of tangency images that settle after undergraduates' distancing from the notion for a few months and after their participation in…

Discusses basic differences between cognitive and behavioral approaches to instructional design, emphasing the role of concept analysis in the design of instruction. (RAO)

How secondary social studies teachers can teach concepts through the skills of categorizing and generalizing is discussed. (RM)

Describes methods for item construction for computer-based instruction (CBI). Use of a rational set generator (RSG) in presenting an adaptive sequence of items to the learner is described; a model matrix of a computer-based RSG is presented; concrete and defined concepts are discussed; and rule using is explained. (Four references) (LRW)

The study evaluated the consistency of goodness-of-example ratings by 27 orientation and mobility (OM) instructors for photographs depicting five environmental concepts (curb, hallway, intersection, shoreline, sidewalk). Results, which were highly consistent across raters, are discussed in relation to design instructional and directions for future…

Three preschoolers performed four sorts with stimulus cards--an untaught target sort and three directly taught alternating sorts considered to self-instruct the target performance. Accuracy increased first in the skill sorts and then in the untaught target sorts. All subjects generalized to new target sorts. Correct spontaneous self-instructions…

Describes an experimental study which investigated the relative efficacy of two types of concept nonexamples in preventing overgeneralization errors among first grade students (n=67). Results indicated that the group which received both coordinate and ordinary concept nonexamples scored significantly higher than the group which received only…

This study explored the problem-solving schemas developed by 7th-grade pre-algebra students as they participated in a teaching experiment that was designed to help students develop effective schemas for solving algebraic problem situations involving contexts of (1) growth and change and (2) size and shape. This article describes the qualities and…

Investigates effects of an independent variable (grade) on three dependent variables (membership, partial association, and generalization) describing preferential styles of thinking in 1635 pupils, measured by a 16 concept word test. (DS)

This experiment compared six methods of teaching concepts of painting style. A practice-plus-verbal feedback teaching strategy (active condition) was compared to a strategy using modeled verbal response (passive condition). Each strategy was combined with three amounts of information: none, artist's name, and name plus style rule. (Author/SJL)

Three experiments tested the application to art of an hypothesis from the concept attainment literature, that conceptual learning is enhanced by providing multiple examples prior to test trials. Subjects were given discrimination tasks involving surrealistic and non-surrealistic paintings. The feature abstraction model proved inadequate in this…

Discusses issues and problems concerning concept development among students in elementary social studies programs. Suggests good teaching uses analogies and metaphors to facilitate learning. Recommends illustrating key concepts through myths, fables, and parables. Argues that using stories that show how things work allows students to apply the…