Learning progressions, or representations of how student ideas develop in a domain, hold promise as tools to support teachers' formative assessment practices. The ideas represented in a learning progression might help teachers to identify and make inferences about evidence collected of student thinking, necessary precursors to modifying…

Presents the procedures, results, and conclusions of a study designed to compare the cognitive performance of students from a new curricula (PSSC) and from traditional (non-PSSC) curricula. Results essentially supported contention that PSSC materials were more effective in developing higher cognitive skills. (DS)

Tested the hypothesis that spatial reasoning is a significant correlate both of formal thought, as defined by Piaget's measures of the proportionality schema, and of achievement in science. Sex differences in proportional reasoning and spatial skills in 6th-form (11- year-old) students from a New Zealand high school were also examined. (CS)

Explores the relationship of an individual's reliance or nonreliance upon concrete cues in problem solving and performance on a model-based measure of hierarchical classification. Level of cognitive development, as determined by performance on Piaget-type tasks, generally predicted hierarchical classification ability of junior- and senior-high…

High school students in South Australia were administered in group fashion the pendulum and the chemical color change developmental tasks. The major conclusion of this study is the fact that it is possible to translate into group form, administer, and assess rapidly and with considerable reliability Piagetian problem indicators of developmental…

A sample of 108 eight-grade students using Intermediate Science Curriculum Study (ISCS) were tested with four Piagetian tasks: two tasks were related to ISCS concepts, two were not. Concludes that no students were formal operational, most were concrete operational, and most performed better on the non-ISCS related tasks. (MLH)

Reviews Piaget's theory of cognitive development and discusses how science concepts can be taught to secondary school students at different cognitive levels. (MLH)

Reviews 27 studies relating age (or grade) and developmental level to science learning among students in grades 6-12. Includes results that measures of student ability are better predictors of cognitive achievement than developmental measures, and that age and grade level are weakly related to developmental level and cognitive achievement. (CS)

Explored the development of hierarchical classification and the age at which this ability appears fully developed. Two measures of hierarchical classification ability were administered to primary, elementary, junior high and high school students. Discusses results which support Piaget's contention that this ability is not developed until late…

Investigated the predictive power of two written tests of Piagetian developmental level, The Understanding in Science Test and the Reasoning Test. Also examined the extent to which two variables, level of reading comprehension and level of field dependence-independence, were associated with performance of secondary school Australian students on…

Questions how cognitive ability and aptitude of graduating high school students taking science courses compare to students in other programs. Explores a related question concerning the extent to which different Piagetian schemes are related to instructional patterns. Results show that students operating at higher cognitive levels take more science…

Reports on an investigation in which topics in genetics and probability were taught to students divided along the Piagetian dimension of field-indepent (FI) and field-dependent (FD) ability. Two teaching strategies, inductive (IND) and a deductive (DED) approaches, were used. Retention scores revealed that regardless of strategy experienced, FI…

Studied relationships between behavioral performances in cognitive and affective domains for 28 high school biology classes with instruction at three different levels. Analyses of students' test scores illustrated the presence of a possible inverse relationship between the cognitive and affective development. (CC)

This investigation explored the relationship between scholastic grades in science in junior and senior high school students and ability of students to perform formal operational tasks. The findings indicated that at certain grade levels and in certain subject areas, public school science students who demonstrate formal operational logic tend to…

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)