The driving forces behind mathematics learning trajectories is the need to understand how children actually learn and make sense of mathematics--how they progress from prior knowledge, through intermediate understandings, to the mathematics target understandings--and how to use these insights to improve instruction and student learning. In this…

Argues, based on a constructivist view of learning, that if knowledge is constructed rather than recorded as received, instruction must be viewed as creating learning environments that enhance the process of knowledge construction, and should guide, support, and accompany students in constructing an increasingly sophisticated understanding of…

Arguing that evolution designed us to both teach and learn, this book explains how, and how much, babies and young children know and learn, and how much parents naturally teach them. The chapters are: (1) "Ancient Questions and a Young Science," including the concept of brain as computer, and the developmental science of Piaget and…

The planning of an introductory calculus textbook in classical mechanics is shown as an example of an approach to textbook design that uses four main cognitive categories: sources of learning, instruments of learning, processes of knowing, and mechanisms of knowing. The aspects, domains, description, and elements of each section of the textbook…

Two ways in which the college teacher accustomed to formal thought and formal teaching can reach students who are more adept at concrete learning are suggested. Guidelines are provided for the first method, which entails the incorporation of activities and materials into the regular lecture or lecture-discussion format of the class. The second,…

This paper asserts that any intellectually responsible program to instruct young children in math, science, and technology must overcome at least three seemingly insurmountable obstacles: (1) adults' inability to discover, either by reflection or analysis, the means by which children acquire science and technology concepts; (2) the fact that young…

A general model of conceptual change which is largely derived from current philosophy of science, but which can illuminate learning as well, is described. Some features of this model are illustrated by interviews with students studying special relativity in physics. Finally, some pedagogical implications are presented. (Author/PB)

This manual identifies characteristics of instructional tools that are effective and efficient in promoting cognitive access for a broad diversity of students, especially those with learning disabilities. An introductory chapter defines "instructional tools" and considers the importance of their design, their use in addressing student…

The Oregon vision for transforming science education is called concept/process-based science. It is not a program but a conceptual framework which presents goals for the direction of science program development. It focuses science programs on helping students develop basic scientific understandings through the use of the key processes of human…