Trends in emphases in the study of clinical reasoning are examined, with attention to three major branches of research: problem-solving, knowledge engineering, and propositional analysis. There has been a general progression from a focus on the generic form of clinical reasoning to an emphasis on medical content that supports the reasoning…

Noting that successful comprehension, problem solving, and decision making are dependent upon activation and appropriate application of relevant schemata of existing knowledge, this report examines the practice of oversimplifying information in the content areas to make teaching and studying easier, and the dangers inherent in doing so. The report…

Maternal and child health practitioners often approach systemic change in a very practical manner: fostering a collaborative vision, engaging critical stakeholders, working with policymakers on reform, and bringing the data and experience to inform the process. Systems are often maintained at a status quo due to deep, ingrained structures,…

Comments on the future of whole language, predicting that the movement will continue to expand with an increased understanding of the role that language plays in learning, a growing respect for alternate ways of knowing, and a renewed interest in curriculum. (BB)

Examines the influence of two factors of the process of graphing on rural students' (n=93) ability to comprehend kinematics graphs on constant velocity events. Students exhibited difficulty in constructing and comprehending graphs of derived variables and were unaware of their own graphing skills deficiencies. (34 references) (MDH)

Asserts that the most effective use of schema theory in history instruction requires placing students in the decision- making roles of historical figures. A more detailed discussion of the same historical event follows this initial exercise. Students then compare their decisions with their historical counterparts. (MJP)

Many significant changes in perspective have to take place before efforts to learn the content and capabilities of children's minds can hold much sway in educational testing. The language of testing, especially of high stakes testing, remains firmly in the realm of "behaviors", "performance" and "competency" defined…

In today's climate of content standards and high-stakes testing, science teachers are under more pressure than ever to focus on the "ready-made" knowledge of science content. Yet, science educators have long advocated a more balanced approach to science instruction, including emphasis on the processes by which scientific knowledge is produced, as…

The purpose of this study was to identify and compare the effects of two different multicultural education intervention strategies (an integrated model and a subject-specific model) on the knowledge and attitudes of preservice teacher education students (N=228) in both a classroom and a field-based setting. Physical education has included an…

The science of physics teaches the world to look beyond what is known and to be creative about visions of the future. Educators, like scientists, are responsible for pointing forward, for looking around and beyond the realm of what is known, to the realm of what could be. Yet, most institutions are restrained by traditional frameworks. Education…

The cognitive structure of an algebra test was defined and validated using the linear test model (LLTM) and quadratic assignment (QA) techniques. The LLTM is an extension of the Rasch model with a linear constraint that describes item difficulty in terms of the cognitive operations required to solve the item. The model permits the specification of…

One potential approach to the authentic assessment of what students know and can do in science is concept mapping. A concept map is a graph consisting of nodes representing concepts and labeled lines denoting the relation between a pair of nodes (concepts). The external concept map constructed by the student is interpreted as representing…

The literature on psychological factors affecting the process of negotiation offers implications for conducting effective international negotiations. Recent advances in cognitive psychology provide useful insights into the "belief systems" of the negotiators, who need special skill in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of other…

Noting that conceptions of the cognitive representations and processes involved in discourse comprehension and production recently have undergone an important shift in orientation, this paper points out the importance of the shift to the conception of the nature of texts, of text understanding, and of cognitive processes in knowledge creation and…

Beneath educational pedagogies lie philosophical assumptions about the nature of learning, knowledge, truth and morality. These different philosophies form the foundations of a variety of instructional programs in all academic disciplines. This paper addresses constructivism, a recent attempt to provide a philosophical pedagogy which affects…