We used a novel linguistic training paradigm to investigate the experience-dependent acquisition, representation, and processing of novel emotional and neutral abstract concepts. Participants engaged in mental imagery (n = 32) or lexico-semantic rephrasing (n = 34) of linguistic material during five training sessions and successfully learned the…

The purpose of this research was to explore the way pupils of different age groups use a model to understand abstract concepts in genetics. Pupils from early childhood to late adolescence were taught about genes and DNA using an analogical model (the wool model) during their regular biology classes. Changing conceptual understandings of the…

Subject matter concept attainment by adult students was studied by experimentally manipulating instructional instances which were either positive or negative, clear or obscure, or presented in large or small variety. (Author/JA)

This study determined if trials on a concept learning task could be analyzed, using multiple learning curves, to generate a family of curves which would clarify differences in methods of attaining concepts. (RC)

Learning concepts implies certain attitudes and skills on the part of both teachers and student; means recalling specific perceptions, discovering relationships, and applying these structures to situations. Students who have learned to conceptualize have the ability and training to view their own lives in relations to their physical and cultural…

Investigates procedural and conceptual aspects in preservice elementary school teachers' understanding of the Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic. Participants' responses indicated that a possibility of alternative prime decompositions was often not overruled, and this influenced students' ability to make inferences regarding factors and divisors of…

A framework for using and changing concepts in the study of science is described. (JD)

Educating for understanding means that students have a sufficient grasp of concepts, skills, or principles to bring them to bear on new situations. Researchers at Harvard University's Project Zero are figuring out what to teach, how to teach it, and how to assess what students have learned using the approach of teaching for understanding. (MLF)

This paper describes the methods and techniques called Conceptual Analysis (CA), a rigorous procedure to generate (without involuntary omissions and repetitions) knowledge bases for the development of knowledge-based systems. An introduction is given of CA and how it can be used to produce knowledge bases. A discussion is presented on what is…

A discussion of the computer "glass box", which is a bold new approach to teaching children concepts using A Programing Language. (Author)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of hypothesis testing instructions compared to brief instructions on the speed of shift problem solution of grade school age subjects, in order to provide information on the development of hypothesis testing behavior in children and the sampling characteristics of hypothesis testing in these…

In this essay, research done on concept learning is discussed. The study analyzes concept learning as one form of learning, formulating guidelines for teaching concepts, and describes the abilities underlying the attainment of concepts. An analytical model is presented; various operations such as concrete concepts and identity concepts are…