This study investigates the impact of utilizing dynamically linked concrete and abstract representations of objects in modern, virtual electric circuit laboratories on the cognitive evolution and the representational fluency of high school students. The students (N = 27, aged 16-17) were randomly divided into two classes: the first class used a…

A systematic review was carried out to examine the use of robots in early childhood and lower level education. The paper synthesizes the findings of research studies carried out in the last ten years and looks at the influence of robots on children and education. Four major factors are examined--the type of studies conducted, the influence of…

Organic chemistry education is one of the youngest research areas among all chemistry related research efforts, and its published scholarly work has become vibrant and diverse over the last 15 years. Research on problem-solving behavior, students' use of the arrow-pushing formalism, the investigation of students' conceptual knowledge and…

Research Findings: A total of 72 Head Start children (M age = 53.26 months, SD = 5.07) were randomly assigned to 4 conditions. Some were taught the oddity principle (choosing the object that differs from others in a group) and seriation (ordering objects on a dimension and inserting new objects into such orders), which are forms of thinking that…

The impulse to investigate the natural world is deeply rooted in our earliest childhood experiences. This notion has long guided researchers to uncover the cognitive mechanisms underlying the development of scientific reasoning in children. Until recently, however, research in cognitive development and education followed largely independent…

Discusses case presentation approach as mechanism for improving case conceptualization skills. Describes case presentation as dealing with three conceptualization tasks: (1) identifying and differentiating how observations and inferences provide evidence for clinical judgments; (2) describing components of counseling relationship; and (3)…

Responds to Biggs' article on the case presentation approach in clinical supervision. Notes that Biggs provides one of the few discussions explicating the tasks in case conceptualizations useful for enhancing cognitive development available in the literature. Raises concerns about Biggs' assumptions about the cognitive level of trainees and the…

Three components of a curriculum organized to facilitate a concept acquisition process are discussed. These are concrete experiences related to a concept, skill development activities and applications. (MP)

Contrary to assumptions about aversive effects of competition on achievement motivation, in this study young people saw academic contests as fair. When participants completed structural interviews on fair ways to organize science contests and on differentiation of skill and luck, age-related trends in their conceptions of procedural justice were…

Development of object permanence skills was examined longitudinally in 20 visually impaired infants (ages 4-25 months). Order of skill acquisition and span of time required to master skills paralleled that of sighted infants, but the visually impaired subjects were 8-12 months older than sighted counterparts when similar skills were acquired.…

Responds to Biggs' article on the case presentation approach in clinical supervision by discussing implications for instruction of two relevant research programs: conceptual level (Harvey, Hunt, and Schroder, 1961) and Hunt's related matching model for education, and Strohmer and associates' cognitive models for clinical judgment. (NB)

Determined the relationship between counseling systems stages and counselor effectiveness as measured by Carkhuff's accurate empathy scale. Students (N=97) were rated for stage of conceptual functioning. Counseling interviews were rated for level of empathic responding. Results indicated markedly significant differences between and among…

Argues that concepts of literacy develop gradually and that in a natural language environment, saturated with good stories, meaningful conversation, and abundant writing materials, the process can begin even before a child goes to school. (FL)

Teachers should organize their instructional programs on objectives that relate to student and teacher understandings, attitudes, and appreciation rather than on objectives that emphasize performance or competencies. Studies to identify differences in schools achieving lower than expected results on state tests of basic skills indicate three…

Instruction should be designed to incorporate learning theories that explain how intellectual skills are developed. Through these appropriate learning theories, students learn to think conceptually, critically, and creatively when analyzing situations, developing solutions to problems, and learning from their experiences. Several critical issues…