Describes a remedial physics laboratory course for students operating at the concrete Piagetian level of cognitive development. (SL)

The first part of this publication is a study of students' math skills and logical abilities and their success in an introductory college chemistry course. A 29-item instrument was developed and administered to 343 students. Test scores for students who received either A or B in the course were compared with scores for those who received either D…

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)

Describes William Perry's scheme of intellectual development, focusing on the first five stages or positions collectively termed "ways of knowing." Suggests applications of this scheme for science teaching. (DS)

Offers an instructional approach to increase students' ability to employ mathematical operations as a means of physical measurement. (Author/JN)

Reviews major purposes and conclusions, and criticisms of cross cultural Piagetian studies conducted during the last two decades. The particular interest of science educators in the work is discussed in light of the availability of new instruments for assessing levels of cognitive development and for analyzing science curricula. (Author/JN)

Reports results of a study investigating the ability of college students to solve problems using proportional reasoning. Also discusses implications for consideration of Piagetian cognitive level of students in planning college courses. (CS)

Discusses the cognitive outcomes of physics laboratory exercises and suggests three types of experiments which should be added to those normally used in physics courses. (HM)

Explored are several facets of the quality of the science curriculum at the undergraduate level. Discussed are maturation of disciplines, entry-level courses, the development of intellectual skills, and academic majors. Recommendations for college science departments are provided. (CW)

Presents a summary of science education research for 1983. The 422 reports reviewed were placed into one of seven clusters for analysis/discussion: learning and instruction; curriculum development and evaluation; cognitive development studies; test development; teacher education; science education research completed in foreign countries; and…

Describes the MAOF physics education program which is designed to relate large parts of mechanics and electromagnetism to each other via the key concepts of field and potential, while at the same time treat students' conceptual difficulties. Finds that students who studied with the MAOF program significantly improved their physics knowledge…

This issue of Investigations in Science Education contains articles about attitude research in science education. It contains the critiques of nine articles about attitude research as well as three responses to critiques. One response relates to a critique published in an earlier issue while the other two responses are paired with the critiques…

Beginning college physics students' misconceptions about moving objects, their mathematics skills, and formal reasoning ability, are all believed to be related to their achievement in physics. It is hypothesized that students whose knowledge structures include misconceptions that are in conflict with concepts in the lectures and text will have…

Investigated was the relationship between spatial visualization and cognitive development in a sample of 88 Australian freshman teacher education students. Results support the hypothesis that enhanced capacity to visualize is an outcome of overall cognitive development. (HM)

Examined relationship between cognitive requirements of two chapters of a physics textbook for biology/pre-med students and their ability to use prerequisite reasoning skills required for its understanding. An average of 42 percent of students tested did not consistently use reasoning skills required to understand text concepts. Discusses tests…