When interviewed, 105 third-grade students indicated that they did not view retardation as a set of behaviors, but as a trait, defined abstractly and perceived to be both predetermined and largely irreversible through personal effort. Children did not assume that being retarded excluded being pretty, athletic, or smart. (Author/JDD)

Questionnaire results indicate that, although first-year, undergraduate science students (n=109) recognize the correct sources of energy for organisms, they simultaneously hold misconceptions about other essential, but nonenergy-supplying, conditions as sources of energy supply. Occurrence rates for these misconceptions vary with the students'…

Discusses the frequent misconception displayed by students that chromosome structure is a function of chromosome number or ploidy. Provides detailed analyses of the evidence concerning the prevalence of this ploidy/structure misconception among students of introductory genetics and the potential sources for inaccurate communication that it can…

Student knowledge in a subject area prior to and after instruction has traditionally been assessed by administering a pre- and post-test, usually multiple choice, though recent studies criticize the use of even the best-constructed multiple choice tests. This study assessed college freshmen's knowledge before and after a laboratory experience in…

Fifty-three elementary school children were tested on Incidental Science Knowledge, i.e., knowledge acquired by chance outside school, and the results obtained were correlated with intellectual development and cognitive style as measured by interviews and group testing, respectively. Indicates that cognitive style and misconception play a…

Maintains that misperceptions or incorrect mental images about relative location and size are common in geography. Reports on a study of 708 students ranging in age from junior high school through undergraduate school. Finds that misperceptions are widespread and exist across grade levels. (CFR)

An analysis of science teacher's knowledge of specific biology and physics topics and the effects of this knowledge on their planning for instruction and on simulated teaching are discussed in this report. Six experienced secondary school teachers participated in the study. Each teacher's knowledge of a biology topic and a physics topic was…

Describes an undergraduate psychology class that required the students to either write an essay (counterattitudinal advocacy) or read an essay supporting a scientifically acceptable position contrary to one of their beliefs. Maintains that counterattitudinal advocacy is more effective for overcoming beginning students' erroneous beliefs about…

Designed to focus on teaching for higher-level cognitive learning, this study measured student perceptions of psychosocial aspects of their classroom learning and involved a team of six researchers. The study consisted of an intensive 10-week investigation of two above-average science teachers in a suburban high school in Perth, Western Australia.…

Describes a classroom exercise designed to illustrate the economic aspects of common ownership, individual ownership, government regulation and to examine how these relate to conservation. The exercise involves the incremental distribution (via a turkey baster) of water between buckets marked "now" and "future." Different rules replicate different…

Interviews Wisconsin high school economics teachers, cited for their teaching excellence, to discover methods used to correct students' misconceptions about economics. Covers opportunity cost, supply and demand, money creation, and gross national product. Finds teachers were adept at using germane examples, showed more confidence teaching…