Chemistry courses remain a challenge for many undergraduate students. In particular, first-semester organic chemistry has been labeled as a gatekeeper with high attrition rates, especially among students of color. Our study examines a key factor related to conceptual understanding in science and predictive of course outcomes-knowledge structures.…

These proceedings contain papers of the 3rd International Baltic Symposium on Science and Technology Education (BalticSTE2019) held in Šiauliai, Lithuania, June 17-19, 2019. This symposium was organized by the Scientific Methodical Center "Scientia Educologica" in cooperation with the Institute of Education, Šiauliai University. The…

This study sought to answer the question, Do all students benefit equally from the use of a hypermedia Goal-Based Scenario (GBS)? GBS is a subcategory of anchored instruction. The correlation between the demographic variables and achievement and specific cognitive variables and achievement was explored using a lesson on DNA, and was tested on…

Agrees with Walter Ong that technology can serve as a transformer of consciousness and, hence, of writing. Shows how technology can work dialectically with consciousness or thought. Discusses two of the potential implications of this dialectical view of the technology/consciousness/writing relationship. (TB)

Studies six summer interns in an engineering development center. Shows that for the interns and their more experienced colleagues, learning did not precede activity but rather was the means by which they remained attuned to activity and able to function. Finds cognition was distributed not only among people but also among people and their tools;…

Discusses the results of a study that explored first year university students' ideas about measurement in the physics laboratory. Uses the 'point' and 'set' paradigms as a model to analyze responses to written probes. (Contains 21 references.) (DDR)

Cognitive-based approaches to social and personality psychology have studied the structure of trait constructs in memory. The bipolar view of traits suggests that the activation of a trait construct such as "hostile" should be associated with the simultaneous activation of its semantic opposite "kind." The unipolar view, in…

The four sections of this paper provide an analysis of the structure of human memory. The first section, intended to provide a clear example of personal memory, examines a hypothetical episode in the life of an undergraduate student, and shows how one episode can give rise to three different forms of memory: personal, semantic, and rote…

This research focused on preservice elementary teachers' understanding and reconstruction of understanding about multiplication in the domain of fractions. At the start of the study, 44% of the 50 preservice teachers studied reported that they had a method for reasoning about multiplication with fractions, and 28% were able to describe a situation…

Suggests that using Bloom's taxonomy of the six levels of cognitive operations--knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation--can help instructors formulate challenging questions which guide students' critical thinking skills. (MM)

Argues that teaching writing conventions in a basic writing class is not a sufficient preparation either for the traditional freshman writing course or for the courses in the students' majors that will follow. Argues that students should be provided with appropriate reading and writing activities of real complexity at every level. (RS)

Researchers collected cognitive structure and reflection data from prospective teachers to test whether schemata and reflection, structure, and process were linked. Results indicated a positive correlation between complexity of knowledge structure and reflective ability. The way teachers organized their knowledge of classroom management affected…

Reports on a study of the relationship between written content and its illustration. Also explores the problem of image comprehension. The study involved students (n=78) in a teacher training course. Concludes that very strong inducements to attract attention to illustration must be included in the text. (Contains 35 references.) (DDR)

Examines third year university physics students' use of models when explaining familiar phenomena involving interaction between metals and electromagnetic radiation. Concludes that few students use a single model consistently. (Contains 27 references.) (DDR)

Evidence points to a pervasive tendency for persons to behave to maintain their existing cognitive structures. One strategy by which this self-verification is made more probable involves information processing. Through attention, encoding and retrieval, and the interpretation of events, persons process information so that self-confirmatory…