A variety of practices and specialised representational systems are required to understand, communicate and construct molecular genetics knowledge. This study describes teachers' use of multimodal representations of molecular genetics concepts and how their strategies and choice of resources were interpreted, understood and used by students to…

Educational strategies that promote the development of clinical reasoning in students remain scarce. Generating self-explanations (SE) engages students in active learning and has shown to be an effective technique to improve clinical reasoning in clerks. Example-based learning has been shown to support the development of accurate knowledge…

It is common for both algebra and calculus instructors to use power functions of various degrees as well as exponential functions to examine and compare rates of growth. This can be done on a chalkboard, with a graphing calculator, or with a spreadsheet. Instructors often are careful to connect the symbolic and graphical (and occasionally the…

Ontologies are one of the most popular and widespread means of knowledge representation and reuse. A few research groups have proposed a series of methodologies for developing their own standard ontologies. However, because this ontological construction concerns special fields, there is no standard method to build domain ontology. In this paper,…

Identifying effective tutorial dialogue strategies is a key issue for intelligent tutoring systems research. Human-human tutoring offers a valuable model for identifying effective tutorial strategies, but extracting them is a challenge because of the richness of human dialogue. This article addresses that challenge through a machine learning…

Over the last five years, people have heard a great deal about something called the Knowledge Society. The term "knowledge" is appearing in places they would not have expected to see it a decade or so ago. The media is full of references to the knowledge economy and the knowledge revolution; business discussions now routinely talk about knowledge…

Presents an alternative perspective that conceives of graphing as observable practices employed to achieve specific goals rather than as knowledge represented in students' minds. Highlights the nature of graphs as semiotic objects, rhetorical devices, and conscription devices. Illustrates the plausibility and fruitfulness of the new perspective in…

Presents the results of a study that identifies misconceptions in chemistry by means of a two-tier diagnostic instrument. Data indicate that similar misconceptions are held by both Singaporean and Australian populations. Focuses on covalent bonding and structure. (DDR)

Argues that the challenge for teachers of algebra in Australia is to find ways of making the structural aspects of algebra accessible to a greater percentage of students. Uses the zero product principle to provide an example of a common student error grounded in the difficulty of understanding the structure of algebra. (DDR)

Recommends the use of concept mapping in science teaching and proposes that it be presented as a creative activity. Includes a sample lesson plan of a potato stamp concept mapping activity for astronomy. (DDR)

Online learning is now a reality, with distributed learning and blended learning becoming more widely used in Higher Education. Novel ways in which undergraduate and postgraduate learning material can be presented are being developed, and methods for helping students to learn online are needed, especially if we require them to collaborate with…

This paper examines the nature of physics students' knowledge, the means to identify alternative conceptions, and possible methods to overcome misconceptions. This examination is a survey of the techniques and ideas of a large number of researchers who are seeking their own solutions to this problem. An examination of the nature of knowledge…

Students (N=14) in a geomorphology course took an objective geomorphology test, the tree construction task, and the Standardized Concept Structuring Analysis Technique (SConSAT) version of concept mapping. Results suggest that the SConSAT knowledge structure dimensions have moderate to good construct validity. Contains 82 references. (DDR)

Examines how professional chemists and undergraduate chemistry students respond to chemistry-related video segments, graphs, animations, and equations. Discusses the role that surface features of representations play in the understanding of chemistry. Contains 36 references. (DDR)

Draws from studies in the sociology of scientific knowledge to create a new perspective for understanding school science. Merges ethnography and discourse analysis to study science-in-the-making in a physics classroom. Investigates local conceptual ecologies. Contains 55 references. (DDR)