Assesses the ability of tenth grade students (n=364) to acquire meanings of graphs that are frequently used in their biology textbooks. Indicates that the main source of failure to process information equally well from tables and graphs was not a lack of basic analytical skills but rather a lack of understanding of the relationship between…

One formal operational schema, hypothetical-deductive reasoning, is seen as most important to effective decisionmaking in planning and carrying out classroom lessons. While it is clear that formal thought schema are widely used in teaching, it is also understood that these reasoning schema are themselves dependent upon the more fundamental…

Two years after the end of a two-year intervention program set within the context of science learning intended to promote formal operational thinking, achievement of students (n=234) was tested by their results on British National examinations taken at age 16. Male experimental subjects achieved an average of 40 percent more grades of C or above…

One of the most challenging daily experiences of teaching young adolescents is helping them transition from Piaget's concrete to the formal operational stage of cognitive development during the middle school years. Students who have reached formal operations can design and test hypotheses, engage in deductive reasoning, use flexible thinking,…

Discusses a study that examined which reasoning patterns are necessary for success in high school chemistry. Based on student (N=170) scores from the "Classroom Test of Formal Reasoning," it was revealed that students who use formal reasoning patterns are capable of greater achievement in chemistry. (ML)

Achievement in science depends among other factors on hypothetico-deductive reasoning ability; that is, on the developmental level of the students. Recent research indicates that developmental level of the students should be studied along with individual difference variables such as Pascual-Leone's M-capacity (information processing) and Witkin's…

This paper provides an introduction to the Alberta Education Developmental Framework, and describes the provincial department's position on curriculum and the cognitive domain. Intended for use in designing and implementing instruction, the developmental framework delineates the developmental stages and processes through which students progress,…

Discusses a study which compared differences in ratio construction made by high school freshman and junior students. Reports that more freshmen than juniors selected solutions involving one variable, whereas juniors chose solutions that coordinated two variables in a mathematical or verbal rule. Reviews implications in problem solving and concept…

Analyzed is the role of formal logic in the development and investigation of science education. Investigated are the use of logical relations in the learning of abstract concepts and the development of efficient cognitive processes in the context of science curricula. (Author/YP)

Reviews the neural modeling principles of learning, perception, cognition, and motor control, discusses their applications to sensory-motor problem solving, and explores possible relationships between that pattern of problem solving and aspects of higher order formal operational problem solving. Cites implications for science education. (ML)

Explains the convergent and discriminant validity of two tests of science process skills with two tests of formal reasoning ability. Reports test results from elementary education majors and discusses the tests' intercorrelations. Implications related to instruction are analyzed. (ML)

Attempts to show that not only can density be taught to lower ability pupils but that by doing so, there is the possibility of assisting pupils to develop their reasoning powers. Lists teaching activities that help in this process. (CW)

Presents study findings which explored the effect of teacher reasoning level and teaching style preference on improvement in student-reasoning ability. Reports that students of concrete operational teachers and of inquiry teachers showed greater gains in reasoning ability than students of formal operational teachers and of expository teachers. (ML)

Five- to six-year-old children estimated the size of Euclidian objects using an addition rule of Height plus Width, rather than a multiplying rule. Within the framework of information integration theory, tested whether intensive handling of objects would facilitate shift from addition rule to multiplication rule. Found that following handling,…

Physical and Earth Science AB, a required senior high school course in the Los Angeles Unified School District, uses an investigative approach for developing scientific understanding and attitudes for students. Contents include: (1) summary of representative objectives; (2) teacher responsibilities; (3) the agenda; (4) guidelines for assignment of…