This research emerged from the Social Science Research Council's collaborative partnership with the Pathways for College Network, with technical assistance in data collection provided by the Council for Aid to Education. The project has followed over 2,300 students at 24 institutions over time to examine what factors are associated with learning…

Examines the epistemological bases of general education, arguing that current curricular models generate a static, absolutist vision of knowledge. Advocates a curriculum based on the processes of knowing and of learning skills and concepts--across all domains and disciplines--rather than on the knowledge base itself. (DMM)

A study was conducted to test the relationship between communication apprehension (CA) and learning. Subjects were 194 college students at a midwestern university enrolled in an introductory speech course who were divided by scores on the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA). The groups heard a class presentation and were then…

Investigates the possible relationships between the ability of introductory college genetics students to perform Piagetian formal operational tasks and their ability to solve problems requiring genetic analysis. (Author/GA)

Briefly reviews Piaget's theory of cognitive development and explains why students who are not formal operational have difficulty with chemical concepts. (MLH)

College students were given two paper-and-pencil conditional reasoning tests, one week apart, in varying order. The three problems on each test were presented either verbally or with line drawings as concrete referents. Performance was significantly poorer on the problems with drawings. (MNS)

Discusses the work of T. S. Kuhn and Sir Karl Popper. Current views on the nature of science and some current ideology of scientific education are also analyzed with regard to the views of science due to Kuhn and Popper. (HM)

Evaluates college students' understanding of chemistry as operationally defined by Bloom. The Test of Higher Cognitive Learning in Chemistry was administered to 488 students upon completion of a one-semester course in general chemistry. Significant differences were found among student mean scores at various cognitive levels. (HM)

The findings of Piaget suggest that learning physics can help people achieve a series of four distinct but overlapping stages of intellectual growth as they search for patterns and relationships. (MLH)

Preservice teachers observed the performance of primary children (age 8) doing a variety of concrete mathematical tasks. (SD)

Presented are abstracts for most of the papers presented at the 54th annual conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), held at Grossinger's in the Catskills, April 5-8, 1981. Papers relate to learning in museums, classroom behavior, cognitive development, male-female differences, diagnostic testing, research…

Describes recent developments in brain science with implications for persons whose research interests are in science education. Discusses new conceptual models, useful methods and techniques, and how neuroscience paradigms and technologies can be applied to teaching and learning. (JM)

Describes special factors and procedures which are utilized in an introductory physical science course for nonscience majors. It is designed to enable students who are at a concrete or transitional stage to attain the formal operational level of development. (Author/SL)

This article identifies four undeveloped opportunities for facilitating student learning based on assumptions about individual differences, cognitive functioning, and affective learning. A complex, growth-oriented view of social work education is emphasized. (Editor)

This review of research, developed in cooperation with the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, was designed to analyze and synthesize the research related to developmental psychology and its relationship to science education. The review is divided into five parts: (1) Introduction; (2) Historical Precedents of the Developmental…