There is extensive literature focusing on students' misconceptions in various subject domains. Several conceptual change approaches have been trying to understand how conceptual change occurs to help learners handle these misconceptions. This meta-analysis aims to integrate studies investigating the effectiveness of three types of conceptual…

An inequitable distribution of resources and opportunities for marginalized students (i.e., opportunity gaps) leads to challenges in identifying effective study behaviors, metacognition, and academic help-seeking in higher education. While students benefit when these skills are taught explicitly through co-curricular workshops and courses, these…

An assessment-oriented design-based research model was applied to existing inquiry-oriented multimedia programs in astronomy, biology, and ecology. Building on emerging situative theories of assessment, the model extends prevailing views of formative assessment "for" learning by embedding "discursive" formative assessment more directly into the…

In the study of science topics especially in physics students are expected to move between different modes of representation when dealing with a particular concept as any science concept can be represented in several different modes. The difficulty for students is that they are often unable to move between these multi-modal representations and…

A composite theory of college science student note-taking strategies was derived from a periodic series of five interviews with 23 students and with other variables, including original and final versions of notes analyzed during a semester-long genetics course. This evolving composite theory was later compared with Van Meter, Yokoi, and Pressley's…

Reports results of a survey developed to assess the use of learner-centered techniques in undergraduate science and mathematics classrooms. Reveals that learner-centered techniques are used infrequently, but when used, they are applied to all aspects of teaching. Suggests that federal funding has been slightly effective in promoting its use. (KHR)

This study describes strategies fifth- and sixth-grade children used to solve the problem of determining how to control a "vehicle" they "drove" by pressing particular keys on a computer. The problem involves identifying or discovering a set of cause-effect relationships. (Author/JN)

Investigates secondary school students' concepts of isotopes and allotropes and how the concepts are linked to the Periodic Table of Elements (PTE). Questions senior high school students with multiple choice items and interviews. Shows that students actively tried to make sense of what they had experienced. (KHR)

Examines the generalizability of selective-attention and academic-studying hypotheses to a modified science chart medium. Describes the questions designed to selectively focus students' attention on specific columns in a modified science chart, with the goal of improving student achievement on a test measuring learning of content contained in…

This study investigates the understanding of 18 first-year undergraduate students when simultaneously presented with two contrasting dynamical situations: the idealized (without air resistance) and real-world cases of balls being dropped or thrown. Previous work has shown that getting students to recognize flaws in their mental models helps them…

Reports the relationship between student characteristics and results of a test of misunderstanding administered to 49 suburban high school students enrolled in a New York State Regents Chemistry Class. A multiple regression analysis of data revealed that the best predictors of performance on the posttest misunderstanding test was the pretest score…

Presents the results of a study on questions invoked to correct declarative knowledge deficits while readers processed science texts explaining natural phenomena. Focuses on finding out what kind of questions are asked by students who read these texts and how task demand influences the quantity and quality of formulated questions. (Contains 42…

Explores the differences between deep and surface approaches to learning science. Findings indicate that the deep-surface learning differences fall into five categories: (1) generative thinking; (2) nature of explanations; (3) asking questions; (4) metacognitive activity; and (5) approach to tasks. Suggests that teachers can encourage a deep…

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.…

Presents meta-analysis of 54 articles and dissertations dealing with cognitive preferences. Information provided includes: test reliability; comparisons by country, grade level, gender, disciplines, and curricula; relationships between cognitive preferences and career orientation, science achievement, interest, and aptitude; and effect sizes.…