Students need a strong understanding of how to represent chemical compounds in order to succeed in organic chemistry. This project set out to gain a better understanding of students' difficulties with symbolic representations, by identifying the specific errors associated with drawing wedge-dash structures. The focus was on how students…

In this study, we test an information-processing model (IPM) of problem solving in science education, namely the working memory overload model, by applying catastrophe theory. Changes in students' achievement were modeled as discontinuities within a cusp catastrophe model, where working memory capacity was implemented as asymmetry and the degree…

Interactive simulations are entering mainstream science education. Their effects on cognition and learning are often framed by the legacy of information processing, which emphasized amodal problem solving and conceptual organization. In contrast, this paper reviews simulations from the vantage of research on perception and spatial learning,…

In this paper we explore students' engagement in a new media enhanced problem-based learning (PBL) environment and investigate the characteristics of these environments that facilitate learning. We investigated both student experiences using a new media enhanced PBL environment and the specific elements students found most supportive of their…

An electronic portfolio system, designed to serve as a resource-based learning space, was tested in a fifth-grade science class. The control-group students accessed a traditional folder-based information display in the system and the experimental-group students accessed a concept map-based information display to review a science portfolio. The…

Reviews a study which examined the effects of types of feedback and diagnostic testing on learning from text aided by a diagnostic/prescriptive instructional strategy. Significant differences in instructional time and learning efficiency were observed from participating undergraduates (n=150) which were not linearly related to feedback complexity.…

Reported is a study of two instructional strategies: (1) the placement of key questions in text materials, and (2) the use of prescriptive feedback to direct students who missed text questions to appropriate remedial work. Learning that resulted from these two techniques was examined relative to achievement, time-on-task, and efficiency.…

Investigates the role of visuals in the instructional and evaluation phases of a high school biology unit on the human heart. Results indicate that the instructional strategy of implementing visualization in both the presentation and evaluation phases is a viable instructional variable. Forty-four references are listed. (Author/MER)

Presented is an analysis of a concept teaching technique that was developed according to a theoretical perspective which emphasizes the importance of a student's existing knowledge in influencing that person's subsequent learning. Significant differences between an experimental group which was exposed to this instructional strategy, and the…

Examines the relationship of the amount of available short-term memory with the complexity of tasks the subjects mastered. Presents some hints for a better design of instruction. (YP)

Experienced Physicists solve simple textbook problems differently from beginning students. This paper describes these differences using a computer-implemented model that "learns." The research is set in the the context of modern computer-processing psychology, and is related to other work relevant to help people know and learn…

Examines congruence between science content structure of instructional materials and students' structural representations before and after science instruction. Eighth-grade science students (N=30) were given concept-structuring tasks before and after studying instructional materials to assess changes in student structural representations.…

Reports on students' study and drawing of five electronic circuit diagrams. Concludes that the success of the students depended upon the amount of detail in the instructional diagrams. (RT)

This study explored computer-based image processing as a study strategy for middle school students' science concept learning. Specifically, the research examined the effects of computer graphics generation on science concept learning and the impact of using computer graphics to show interrelationships among concepts during study time. The 87…

The purpose of this study was primarily to explore the effects of constructivist-oriented instruction on fifth graders' cognitive structures about biological reproduction. Furthermore, such effects on different science achievers were also investigated. The subjects of this study were 69 eleven year olds in Taiwan, who were assigned to either a…