This study investigated approaches to studying, intellectual developments, and metacognitive skills of general chemistry students enrolled for the spring 2011 semester at a single campus of a multi-campus community college. The three instruments used were the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST), the Learning Environment…

College instruction aims not only to expand students' content knowledge, but also to help students develop practical skills, such as the ability to think critically. This study was conducted in a chemistry course for non science majors offered as part of a liberal education core curriculum at a large public university in the Midwest. Students…

The ability to coherently assess content knowledge throughout an entire undergraduate career represents a significant advantage for programmatic assessment strategies. Chemistry, as a discipline, has an unusual tool in this regard because of the nationally standardized exams from the ACS Exams Institute. These exams are norm-referenced and allow…

This paper describes classroom activities to help students understand the publication cycle and the characteristics of major publication channels (textbooks, books, encyclopedias, and periodicals) for first-year physics students. When designing these activities, the author considered the intellectual development characteristics and the…

The intellectual development of students as defined by Piagetian theory is discussed with the implications that the theory and recent research results may have for teaching science. Recommended is conducting small, carefully planned investigations that will lead to a better understanding of: (1) what concepts cause problems and why; (2) what…

Provides the following possible reasons for the unpopularity of college chemistry: the shortage of good teachers due to higher salaries and prestige in chemical research; the increasing intellectual demands of chemistry study; and the emphasis in chemical education on vocational, rather than intellectual, development. (MLH)

Reviewed is research concerning cognitive development of entering college students; the implications for teaching biology and evaluating instructional materials are discussed. (SL)

Describes an investigation undertaken to evaluate whether or not the Purdue experimental program, through its concrete curricular materials and inquiry-oriented procedures, had been successful in promoting formal reasoning abilities in its students. Results indicated that concrete curricular materials and problems can promote the development of…

Showed that Piagetian measures of formal reasoning ability are significantly related to achievement, aptitude, and knowledge of the processes of science in a sample of college freshman and sophomore elementary education majors. (MLH)

Describes two experiments on conservation of weight and volume based on Piaget's experiments. These experiments showed that some college students were unable to operate at the formal operations level. (PS)

Presents the results of two Piagetian conservation tasks administered to high school students. It was found that not many were at the formal operations level. Similar evidence is presented for college students. Concludes that development of formal thought must be a focus of all teachers. (DF)

Extends prior theory and research by postulating the existence of an intermediate class of concepts called 'hypothetical'. Investigates the hypothesis that three kinds of scientific concepts exist by constructing and administering a test on concepts introduced in a college biology course. Supports the hypothesis that intellectual development…

Reports the results of a study designed to measure any changes in the Piagetian level of intellectual functioning of students after taking one introductory college physics course for one semester. No developmental progress was found as a result of taking such a course. (Author/GA)

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)

Seventy-one college general biology students were taught a unit in Mendelian genetics by the traditional lecture method. Emphasis was placed on meiotic formation of gametes, dominance, segregation, and independent assortment. The Punnett square model was used for all practice problems. While using this model, students were asked to: (1) identify…