Asserts that whether students engage in creative and critical thinking depends on how teachers structure the learning situation. Contends that using "academic controversy" among students provides a basis for deliberate discourse and creative problem solving. Presents a five-step instructional model to guide students. (CFR)

This paper describes student performance and beliefs regarding fractions resulting from a five-phase approach toward developing mathematical intuition via physical materials. Interviews with students using this approach and with students using a conventional textbook approach indicated significant differences in problem-solving abilities and…

Counterintuitive moments in the classroom challenge common sense and practice and can be used to help mathematics students appreciate the need to explore, reflect, and reason. Proposed are four examples involving geometry, systems of equations, and matrices as counterintuitive instances. (MDH)

Kindergarten students' (n=7) thought processes were investigated during a problem-solving task to gain insight into students' problem-solving strategies and to guide students toward a closer awareness of their own mathematical thinking. Outlines some of the processes and problems of implementing a constructivist approach by an experienced teacher.…

Examined the quality of responses of six classes of grade six students to four questions requiring multiple and generalized solutions posed under varying conditions. Results indicated that this type of question can be useful in classrooms because students can respond at a variety of levels. (13 references) (MDH)

Thirty-one students (ages 8-14) with learning disabilities or behavior disorders solved arithmetic word problems while a narrative protocol was developed. Eight types of cognitive processing difficulties were identified (such as lack of self-correction and inclusion of extraneous information), and the utility of protocol analysis as an assessment…

Argues that the dichotomy between domain-specific and general theories of cognitive development addressed in the "Merrill-Palmer Quarterly" special issue is unproductive. Suggests that polarities of generality and specificity exist in creative tension as seen through developmental processes. (Author/BB)

Thirteen 8- to 10-year-old students participated in a Lego-LOGO learning environment, coupling Lego building-block activities with Logo computer programming, to evaluate whether this learning environment was conducive to metacognitive awareness and cooperation. Results suggested positive cognitive and affective outcomes, especially for the younger…

Argues that consideration should be given to whether teaching solubility product calculations is at all useful. Claims that experienced teachers seriously misunderstand and misuse solubility product calculations. (DDR)

The college teacher's job is to organize the teaching/learning context so all students use the higher-order learning processes that "academic" students always use. This is achieved when objectives express the kind of understanding targeted, teaching context encourages students to achieve it, and assessment tells students what is required of them…

Argues that science students often perceive physical events, the nature of scientific knowledge, and the nature of learning processes in different ways from science teachers and scientists, and that science teachers need to account for these differences in planning their science teaching. Contains 40 references. (WRM)

Presents a theory of learning in science based on students deriving conceptual linkages among multiple models which represent physical phenomena at different levels of abstraction. Finds that high school students who were exposed to derivational links among three models for basic electricity performed better when solving both qualitative and…

If science education is to be related as closely as possible to science, then Thought Experiments (TEs) must play an appropriate part. Presents a typology of TEs with examples drawn from the history of physics and addresses their various uses in bringing about students' conceptual development. Finds appropriate use of TEs is lacking in physics…

Describes the development and use of two computer simulations for investigating systems thinking and environmental problem-solving in children (n=92). Finds that older children outperformed younger children, who tended to exhibit magical thinking. Suggests that seemingly isomorphic environmental problems may not be interpreted as such by children.…

Interset and set-to-total correlations for the California Card Sorting Test were studied for 135 college students and 63 elementary school students. Although subsets were not equivalent, the generally good correlations between subset and total test scores indicated that use of the individual subsets as short forms is justified. (SLD)