There is a perception amongst some of those learning computer programming that the principles of object-oriented programming (where behaviour is often encapsulated across multiple class files) can be difficult to grasp, especially when taught through a traditional, didactic "talk-and-chalk" method or in a lecture-based environment. We…

The object of the present study was to investigate, by the use of repertory grid techniques (Kelly, 1955), the components of the images which sixth formers had of universities, and to explore how these related to particular universities or types of university. (Author)

This case study suggests that there are important links between students' perceptions and metacognitive development. David was one of five students who were interviewed in the second semester of a second year chemical engineering course in which the fundamental concepts of the discipline are first encountered. This paper assesses David's way of…

This article addresses the difficulties associated with identifying and communicating about colors. Specific attention is devoted to the color red as it is symbolized in British and American cultures. Concludes that there is a great deal more to the learning of color than having students learn a vocabulary of color terms and designating correctly…

Presents findings on sex differences in demonstrating the principle of horizontality. Initially, female subjects had more difficulty with the concept than males. It is suggested that women suffer from lack of appropriate experience. (MA)

Instructional variables were manipulated to determine whether they influence the level of perceptual analysis. The relationships of perceptual analysis to concept learning and evaluations of the instructors were also examined in the study. (Author/GK)

Suggests that thematic roles might best be viewed as verb-specific concepts and that this conceptual/world knowledge is computed and used immediately in online language processing. Discusses results in relation to other recent treatments of thematic roles as well as constraint-based and garden path models. (68 references) (Author/CK)

Knowledge representations and mental models from graphically presented information were investigated for 98 college students with different levels of mathematics experience. The subjects were drawn from a remedial algebra course (n=35), a second semester calculus course (n=35), and a calculus-based statistics course (n=28); they were all exposed…

Different roles for nurses and various definitions of nursing have been described, but the knowledge and concepts essential to nursing are already defined by the nature of human beings. Nursing curricula must reflect a more logical organization of biological, psychological, and sociological nursing and promote the ability to perceive…

Physics learning involves a change in the habitual perception of the everyday world. In order to describe the real world scientifically, an individual must develop perception and cognition capable of reconstructing the world from raw sensory data and incorporating acquired knowledge of the scientific community. The introductory physics student…

Three related studies clarify and extend the meaning of interaction involvement: (1) examines the factor structure of the Interaction Involvement Scale; (2) reports a correlation of analysis of newly interpreted involvement factors, including neuroticism, extraversion, communication competence, etc.; and (3) reports initial findings of the…

Demonstrated is a covariance principle that causes the observer to assume that if one aspect of a two-dimensional figure (its perimeter or its area) is conserved, the other aspect must also be conserved (pseudo-conservation). Mentally retarded individuals, assuming no such fixed relationship, correctly judged the changed state of the nonconserved…

Hypothesizes that the human brain localizes mental operations which are integrated in the performance of cognitive tasks such as reading. Provides support of this hypothesis from studies in neural imaging, mental imagery, timing, and memory. (RT)

Fourth-year university students (n=12) in a secondary-science-education degree program in Singapore were interviewed after demonstrations of five familiar chemical reactions. The majority of interviewees used perceptually-dominated rather than conceptually-dominated thinking and were unable to use scientific concepts consistently across the five…

Investigates the hypothesis that preservice teachers specializing in science and mathematics will score significantly higher on spatial ability tests than other preservice teachers. Also investigates gender-related differences in spatial ability. Contains 26 references. (DDR)