In an attempt to reveal potential threshold concepts in the field of higher education pedagogy, groups of university teachers (in the UK and in Panama) were encouraged to develop personal reflection upon their conceptions of teaching. This was initiated through concept mapping activities. It was hoped that this would help participants to address…

Describes background literature associated with learning styles, the biological basis for learning styles and problems associated with using learning styles in education. Identifies four problems associated with learning styles research. Describes the results of a comparison of four learning styles instruments. (NH)

A study examined whether word processing amplifies writing performance and whether it restructures the process of writing. Sixteen college students wrote a short essay in a single session on either a word processor or in longhand. The quality of the essays was assessed by trained judges who rated their content and style. Text analysis methods were…

This study investigated whether differences existed between novice and experienced high school teachers in their recall and analysis of problem events during interactive teaching. Results are described. Implications for teacher educators are discussed. (Author/MT)

Compares the effects on the knowledge structure of the learners of using two different Mindtools--semantic networks and rule-based expert systems--for representing the content of a course. Results showed that students in the semantic network class possessed more hierarchical knowledge structures than the other group. (Contains 29 references.) (JLB)

Compares 7 biology faculty members, 9 genetic counselors, and 26 undergraduate students according to both expertise and problem-solving success within the domain of genetics. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that as expertise is attained, the individual restructures knowledge into a framework based upon the critical dimensions which…

The cognitive structure of 13 concepts in pulmonary physiology was explored among 112 first-year medical students and among 32 faculty members in three different expertise groups in a knowledge representation study. Purposes were to assess the degree of agreement among faculty members, map students' concept structures, and compare the similarity…

Findings are related from a study designed to compare the semantic ordered trees of 14 experienced and novice teachers enrolled in the same curriculum course and describe how these teachers reflected upon their trees before and after the course. An appendix gives directions for creating semantic ordered trees. (IAH)

Two experiments look at factors influencing the ways children construct an abstract representation of story structure that contains the characteristics described by story grammars. (RWB)

A study compared university chemistry students' (n=19) performances in creativity exercises, concept mapping, and traditional examinations. Performance in all three correlated with deep study strategy, but low correlations between the three methods suggests that they test different aspects of chemistry knowledge. Use and integration of all three…

A study analyzed the prior knowledge state of two university populations: students at the Open University (OU) of the Netherlands and students at the University of Limburg (UL). Analysis of the prior knowledge state was based on an extensive analysis of the literature in relation to theories, models, and practice-based strategies about the…

The effects of teaching with analogies on students' conceptual understanding and explanations of educational computing were examined with three groups of preservice teachers in a computer literacy course. Students who were taught using complete analogies were found to have a better grasp of computing concepts than those taught using undeveloped…

This exploratory study examined the structure of declarative knowledge about pedagogy housed in the memory of an experienced teacher educator, and it sought to determine the teacher educator's influence on the development of declarative knowledge structures in undergraduate students enrolled in three sections of a physical education teaching…

Two studies examining student images of the world as depicted on sketch maps are compared. The first study collected sketch maps of the world drawn by high school and university students in the United States, Canada, Finland, and Sierra Leone to examine the influence of location on student perceptions. The second study collected maps drawn by…

This paper analyzes two student papers, "Pygmalion" and "Waiting to Inhale," in terms of the type of thinking demonstrated in them. It examines the difference between higher order patterns of thinking evident in advanced or adult writers and patterns of thinking in young writers or students. The study reported in the paper…