Investigated outcomes of the use of the learning cycle, which divides instruction into the Piagetian phases of exploration, invention, and discovery in general college chemistry laboratory experiments. Differences between concrete and formal operational students were explored in students' ability to master chemistry material varying in cognitive…

Hypothesized that instructional methods employing concrete models and exemplars of a concept will lead to better student understanding at both the concrete and formal operational levels of cognitive development. However, concrete operational students did not profit from the instructional methods and results were not clear for early formal…

Explores secondary school, undergraduate, and graduate level learners' mental models of bonding with ionic substances through an interview protocol involving the use of physical substances and a focus card containing depictions of ionic bonding and structure. Suggests that teachers and university faculty need to provide stronger links between the…

Analyzes students' attempts to answer examination questions involving stoichiometry and chemical equilibrium and reports that the majority of the students do not fully understand either concept. Concludes that the main difficulty with these topics is that they are highly abstract and first taught to students before they have reached the stage of…

Tested two hypotheses: (1) formal reasoning is required to balance simple one-step equations; and (2) formal reasoning plus sufficient mental capacity are required to balance many-step equations. Independent variables included intellectual development, mental capacity, and degree of field dependence/independence. With 25 subjects, significance was…

Investigated was the level of cognitive development of Afro-American students enrolled in general chemistry courses to determine the strategies used by both successful and unsuccessful problem solvers in solving stoichiometry problems. Results indicated that a higher level of cognitive development may be crucial in solving more sophisticated…

The constructivist hypothesis that the acquisition of domain-specific conceptual knowledge (declarative) requires the use of general procedural knowledge was tested. Students (n=314) were classified as reflective, transitional, or intuitive thinkers and presented with four concept-acquisition tasks. Skill in hypothetico-deductive reasoning…

Investigated was the relation between student ability to translate sentences into equations, equations into sentences, and student performance in formal operational reasoning, proportional reasoning, and introductory-level chemistry. Results indicate that students who lack formal operational skills may experience problems in the translation of…

Interview data exemplify students' attempts to integrate the concepts of electrochemistry with related knowledge that they had previously constructed or acquired in other classes. The implications for minimizing potential misconceptions center on the difficulties students experience when using more than one model for explaining scientific…

Reports the construction and field testing of an electronic device intended to serve as a replacement for Piaget's first chemical task. Validity of the electronic task was established in testing 64 secondary school age students. Results obtained by the chemical and electronic tasks were highly correlated. (CP)

Described is a study that confirms positive effects on student achievement of manipulation of molecular models by high school chemistry students over a long period of time. Also examined but unanswered were questions regarding applications of Piaget's theories in determining differential effects for concrete and formal operational students. (CS)

Investigates the effect that manipulation of the extent of formal reasoning required for solving chemistry problems has upon student performance, and presents a cognitive model for the qualitative analysis of that effect. Concludes that the developmental level of students is the most important predictor of problem-solving success given significant…

Investigates the influence of five cognitive variables on high school students' performance on balancing chemical equations by inspection. Reports that reasoning, restructuring, and disembedding variables could be a single variable, and that working memory capacity does not influence overall performance. Results of hierarchical regression analysis…

Investigates the attainment of abstract and concrete concepts and the use of pseudoexamples to move concrete thinkers to abstract levels in secondary school chemistry classes. Findings reveal abstract students achieve significantly higher means on both concrete and abstract concept attainment and that pseudo examples have no effect on the ability…

Cognitive performance of college students (N=225) on "An Inventory of Piaget: Developmental Tasks" (IPDT) was related to Scholastic Aptitude Tests and performance in both college chemistry lectures and laboratory classes. Relationship of Piagetian tasks to learning and instructional activities in introductory chemistry classes is…