The aim of this paper is two-fold. The first aim is to review the core representational and processing aspects of influential accounts of single-document and multiple-document comprehension with a particular emphasis on how readers negotiate conflicting information during reading. This review provides the groundwork for the second aim--to expand…

The aim of this paper is two-fold. The first aim is to review the core representational and processing aspects of influential accounts of single-document and multiple-document comprehension with a particular emphasis on how readers negotiate conflicting information during reading. This review provides the groundwork for the second aim--to expand…

Background: Engineering students commonly learn domain knowledge by engaging with visual representations of it. However, at times they have trouble accessing information from these representations due to the way information is encoded in features of the representation. Purpose: To describe how students engage with representation features, we…

Climate change is an important theme in the investigation of human-environment interactions in geographic education. This study explored the nature of students' understanding of concepts and processes related to climate change. Through semi-structured interviews, data was collected from 27 Secondary 3 (Grade 9) students from Singapore. The data…

The electronic and molecular structure of the acylium cation ([CH[subscript 3]CO][superscript +], 1) receives varied treatment in undergraduate textbooks and online resources. The overall structure of 1 is typically represented as an equal combination of resonance structures containing C-O triple and double bonds, the latter structure occasionally…

Student understanding of biological representations has not been well studied. Yet, we know that to be efficient problem solvers in evolutionary biology and systematics, college students must develop expertise in thinking with a particular type of representation, phylogenetic trees. The purpose of this study was to understand how undergraduates…

Adult developmental mathematics students often work under great pressure to complete the mathematics sequences designed to help them achieve success (Bryk & Treisman, 2010). Results of a teaching experiment demonstrate how the ability to reason can be impeded by flaws in students' mental representations of mathematics. The earnestness of the…

Investigates the conceptions and representations of light propagation, image formation, and sight typical to preinstruction learners (N=139). Findings indicate that preinstructional students display some familiarity with optical systems, light propagation, and illumination patterns and have not developed a consistent descriptive and explanatory…

This article offers a plausible domain-general explanation for why some concepts of processes are resistant to instructional remediation although other, apparently similar concepts are more easily understood. The explanation assumes that processes may differ in ontological ways: that some processes (such as the apparent flow in diffusion of dye 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)

Supports the use of microanalysis of conceptual change as a tool for reconceptualizing the nature of students' knowledge-in-development and dissolving concept-misconception and expert-novice dichotomies. Contains 48 references. (DDR)

Presents a summary of teaching practices that are successful in promoting conceptual change based on a study of Grades 4, 8, and 10 and on the research literature. Proposes improvements in teaching methodology. Contains 31 references. (DDR)

Compares the ideas of young people about Newton's third law, focusing on youth of today and youth of the 17th and 18th centuries. Examines the use of Newton's third law in understanding impact phenomena in the 17th and 18th centuries. Contains 46 references. (DDR)

States that the shift in meaning of the Periodic Table to represent regularities in the electron distribution in the shells of atoms can result in confusion between elements and atoms. (DDR)