Illustrates use of Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) for predicting coherence through reanalyzing two studies that manipulated coherence of texts and assessed readers' comprehension. Finds that LSA predicts effects of text coherence on comprehension. Notes that LSA can be applied as an automated method that produces coherence predictions similar to…

In our investigation of preservice secondary teachers' understanding of irrational numbers we focus on how different representations influence participants' responses with respect to irrationality. As a theoretical perspective we use the distinction between transparent and opaque representations, that is, representations that "show"…

Describes the difference between mediation and "mediatisation." Suggests the need for a paradigm shift away from the computational model of knowledge as pure information processing and task-centered problem solving to a more contextualist, sociointeractional, constructivist, user-centered model of cognition. (Author/AEF)

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)

Task analyses have traditionally been framed in terms of overt behaviors performed in accomplishing tasks and goals. Pioneering work at the Learning Research and Development Center looked at what contribution a cognitive analysis might make to current task analysis procedures, since traditional task analysis methods neither elicit nor capture…

Examines the place of mental models in the process of knowledge construction, particularly by the relationship between mental models and computer models in that process. Analyzes and discusses children's use of spreadsheets to build their own computer models. Suggests that the process of building models on a computer may provide direct support to…

Reviews science education research into representations constructed by students in their interactions with the world, its phenomena, and artefacts. Features discussions of mental models, conceptual models, and the activity of modeling. (Contains 30 references.) (Author/WRM)

Discusses multiple representations and multimedia learning environments; describes a functional taxonomy of MERs (multiple external representations); and considers how MERs are used to support cognitive processes in learning and problem solving with computers. (Contains 41 references.) (Author/LRW)

Discusses two theories of cognitive development, Ausubel's theory of verbal learning and Piaget's development theory. Illustrates that both concept mapping and the learning cycle are rooted in these two theories. (DDR)

Explores high school students' collaborative efforts in solving qualitative physics problems and investigates how and whether confronting students with varying views improves problem solving skills. (Contains 22 references.) (DDR)

This study sought to discover differences in knowledge and knowledge organization between medical students and physicians. A total of 4 fourth-year students who had completed their pre-clinical courses, 4 fifth-year students who had just finished their internship in internal medicine, and 4 internists with an average of 20 years of experience were…

This research study focused on the knowledge structure of the domain of physics by describing the knowledge of experts, intermediates, and novices. In order to investigate these representations, a reiterative categorization task was employed using novice, intermediate, and expert subjects (N=27). The categories were classified as theory-, model-,…

This paper reports on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for the characterization of models and modeling that can be useful in application to chemistry education. The underlying argument marks a departure from an emphasis on concepts that are the outcomes of chemical inquiry about how knowledge growth occurs through modeling in chemistry.…

Explores whether exposure to increasingly sophisticated mental models at different points in a chemistry education class showed up in patterns of preference and use of models in interpreting physical properties and phenomena. (Contains 92 references.) (DDR)

Investigates the effectiveness of two different types of interviews: one that embeds a concept map, and one that does not embed a concept map in order to elicit post-instructional understandings. Focuses on students' understandings of chlorofluorocarbons and their role in global atmospheric change. Contains 71 references. (DDR)