The period from adolescence through young adulthood is one of great promise and vulnerability. As teenagers approach maturity, they must develop and apply the skills and habits necessary to navigate adulthood and compete in an ever more technological and globalized world. But as parents and researchers have long known, there is a crucial dichotomy…

Suggests that students who reason with only concrete thinking patterns may become formal thinkers through the use of the following instructional pattern: (1) the introduction of an undifferentiated whole, (2) differentiation of the whole through concrete experiences, (3) invention of symbolic notation, (4) application of concepts which lead to…

This document presents Part I of a two-part study which sought to ascertain the relationship of grade level, achievement level, sex, and method of presentation to the various bases by which children classify geometric concepts. Two tasks, administered consecutively to 96 subjects in grades five, eight and eleven, consisted of the sequential…

This document, Part II of a two-part study, is the summary chapter of a report which sought to ascertain the relationship of grade level, achievement level, sex, and method of presentation to the various bases by which children classify geometric concepts. Two tasks, administered consecutively to 96 subjects in grades five, eight, and eleven,…

Tested was the hypothesis that science instruction based on task analysis will lead to the acquisition of the ability to perform certain Piaget volume tasks which have been characterized as requiring formal operations for their solutions. A Test on Formal Operations and a Learning Hierarchies Test were given to fourth- and sixth-grade students in…

Different types of understandings are presented as different facets of the development of the mental processes. (MP)

This document reviews the use of mathematical models of learning for research in the learning of science concepts. Three mathematical models for the representation of concept learning are presented. (SL)

INVESTIGATED WERE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT'S UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE CONCEPTS INTRINSIC TO PROBABILITY THEORY. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES WERE TO EXPLORE (1) THE VARIATION AND CONSISTENCY IN USAGE OF QUANTITATIVE LANGUAGE TERMS, (2) THE ABILITY TO GENERATE POSSIBLE COMBINATIONS AND PERMUTATIONS, (3) THE RECOGNITION AND UTILIZATION OF THE CONCEPT OF…

REPORTED IS THE DETERMINATION OF THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF TWO METHODS OF INSTRUCTION IN TEACHING CLASSIFICATIONAL CONCEPTS OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHANGE TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN. THROUGH TEACHER-DIRECTED DEMONSTRATION-DISCUSSION, STUDENTS IN GRADES 2-6 WERE INSTRUCTED IN THE CONCEPTS OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHANGE WITH THE…

A model for learning and teaching mathematics is described which focuses on the relationships between mathematical concepts, the psychology of the learner, and instruction. The model distinguishes between figural and operational concepts and the types of abstraction (simple vs. reflective) needed to comprehend these concepts, that is, to…

The author argues that the input-output model of learning is inadequate for those who believe education is to produce persons who can solve problems in a particular area. He suggests that the act of learning be examined rather than the products of an educational experience. Piaget's mental-structures model of learning is then discussed along with…

Discusses Novak's views that Ausubel's meaningful learning can become an alternative to Piagetian psychology and argues that Ausubel does not provide a theory that can be an alternative to Piaget's developmental psychology. (HM)

Twenty-three intermediate grade students (seven with learning difficulties) completed a concept mapping and vocabulary quiz, with instructions highlighting the value of learning goals or performance goals. Children with varying learning histories mediated in-school learning with qualitatively distinct epistemologies, and the "learning goals" task…

Points out the fact that Piaget's objections to tests as ways of identifying cognitive structures and processes have been largely ignored in most of the replication studies conducted by English and American psychologists. (PEB)

Points out that an aspect of Piaget's theory, the concept of stage, is being misrepresented through vague and incorrect use of the idea. (Author/GA)