This is a theoretical paper in which we describe the motivation for and the design of a novel primary physics course for student teachers at kindergarten and primary school levels that uses cognitive tools such as metaphor, analogy, and narrative. The course has been taught in the master's program in teacher education at three Universities over…

Do we perceive correctly whether a 2-D object is balanced or unbalanced? What would be the cause of biased equilibrium judgments? In two psychometric studies, we varied independently the characteristics of the objects and the equilibrium states. First, we observed that observers were excessively sensitive to the eccentricity of the object top.…

The Lawson Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (LCTSR) was used to gauge the relative effectiveness of three different methods of pedagogy, "Reading, Presenting, and Questioning" (RPQ), "Experimenting and Discussion" (ED), and "Traditional Methods" (TM), on increasing students' level of scientific thinking. The…

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)

Students' preferences changed from applied to theoretical aspects of physics, and from recall of facts to identification of fundamental principles during two years of study of the Physical Science Study Committee in Australian High Schools. (AL)

Presents Ausubel's theory of learning and discusses its implication for teaching physics in the classroom and some of the theory's shortcomings. (HM)

Described is the interview-about-instances method used to gain insight into children's and adults' views of the world and the meanings people have for the words they use in explaining their views. Physics teachers can utilize this technique to become aware of the various concept understandings pupils bring to physics classrooms. (DS)

Focuses on three main issues emerging from studies of conceptual development: (1) young children's naive theories of the world; (2) how innate constraints in conceptual development work; and (3) how innate and sociocultural constraints are integrated. Maintains that early development of core domains of thought (naive psychology, physics, and…

Focuses on the familiar problem of students' understanding of elementary electrical circuits from a much neglected point of view. Suggests that the patterning commonly found in students' ideas might have its roots in the cognitive processing with which students operate their mental models of d.c. electrical circuits. Studies Japanese 10-11 year…

The design and architecture of two user-controlled, computer-based problem analysis environments in classical mechanics are discussed. In the expert-like environment, the user analyzes problems according to a hierarchical concept schema consistent with how experts analyze novel problems in physics. In the second environment, the user searches a…

One approach to the study of cognitive processes highlights the distinctions between expert and novice problem solvers. This approach attempts to discover how experts and novices differ in the way they organize, retain and use domain related knowledge. It appears to some that what is learned from expert-novice research can help teachers to teach…

This investigation examined the relationship between problem solving ability and the criteria used to decide whether two classical mechanics problems could be solved similarly. The investigators began by comparing experts and novices on a similarity judgment task and found that experts predominantly relied on the problems' deep structure in…

The effect of playing a logic game, Master Mind, on student learning in physics was examined in this study. An experimental group of 16 Electronics Engineering Technology students played the game during class one hour per week for seven weeks. A control group of nineteen students took the course without playing the logic game. Results showed that…

Comparisons of expert and novice problem solving in physics have helped characterize some of the key features of expert behavior. There is considerable debate, however, as to whether these characteristics are specific to the field of expertise (physics) or exportable to other fields. While the question seems difficult to answer in general, at…

Presents data on reasoning abilities of science and non-science majors at one private, liberal arts university. Indicates that most students taking physics are formal operational or into transition to formal reasoning and that six concrete operational students dropped the course. (JN)