An important, but as yet unresolved pedagogical question is whether discovery-oriented or direct instruction methods lead to greater learning and transfer. We address this issue in a study with 101 fourth and fifth grade students that contrasts two distinct instructional methods. One is a blend of discovery and direct instruction called…

Forty-five students divided into six experimental groups were given a programed presentation using teaching machines, which included different feedback procedures. The most efficient feedback procedure was that of administering a specific review until the criterion frame performance was correct. The least efficient procedure was that of repeating…

Compares the ages of intellectual development of conservation and reversibility concepts by gifted children with established norms. Study shows a substantial percentage of gifted children made abstract conceptions well ahead of children in general. Where the concepts of conservation and displacement of volume had not been grasped, students…

Studied was the effect of advance organizers, as defined by Ausubel, on the learning of concepts in science. Sixth grade classes studied two sequences of major concept-centered learning tasks developed by the investigator. The first had 12 lessons about energy forms and transformations; the second had five about photosynthesis and respiration as…

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…

Experiment compares the effect of equilibration type training to the effects of S-R reinforcement type training in developing weight-conservation concepts in second and third grade pupils. S-R group performed significantly better than control group on initial posttest for conservation of weight. A measure for permanence of the conservation beliefs…

THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF TWO TYPES OF MECHANICAL MODELS FOR TEACHING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS TO USE THE PARTICLE IDEA OF MATTER TO EXPLAIN CERTAIN PHYSICAL PHENOMENA WAS INVESTIGATED. SUBJECTS WERE RANDOMLY SELECTED FROM STUDENTS ENROLLED IN GRADES TWO THROUGH SIX IN A SCHOOL SYSTEM. A SERIES OF DEMONSTRATIONS AND RELATED QUESTIONS WERE…

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…

Investigated were the proportions of concept types used by fourth through ninth graders to explain scientific terms. Data were collected and analyzed to relate the types of concepts used by students in their explanations to the variables of sex, grade level, and intelligence. An analysis of the types of concepts used by groups of students to…

Describes procedures, results, and conclusions of a study designed to investigate the effects of (1) the height of an object, (2) state of decay of an object, (3) the reversibility of an event, and (4) the affective aspects of an event on the development of the conservation of time concept in elementary school children. Results indicated that…

Describes a study which used fourth and sixth grade children who had used Science - A Process Approach" and compared their performance with that of a control group on two conservation-of-volume tasks. Performance of the volume tasks was found to be related to age and score on the Learning Hierarchies Test and not to previous science program…

Paper delivered at the American Association of Physics Teachers meeting in New York City, February, 1967.

Studied were the relationships between children's attainment of the concept of conservation of liquid and certain student characteristics. Student factors investigated were socio-economic background (high and low), status levels (conservers and non-conservers), verbal and non-verbal achievement, and science achievement. Classification of subjects…