A central goal of science education reform is for students to participate in scientific sense making rather than to merely acquire science facts. However, even in classrooms utilizing reform-based pedagogies, students are typically allowed to construct knowledge only insofar as they construct expected knowledge. In this report and reflection, we…

Executive function (EF) predicts children's academic achievement; however, less is known about the relation between EF and the actual learning process. Furthermore, more research is needed to better understand how different aspects of the learning environment interact with EF to influence learning. The current dissertation includes two studies to…

Radical constructivists advocate discovery-based pedagogical regimes that enable students to incrementally and continuously adapt their cognitive structures to the instrumented cultural environment. Some sociocultural theorists, however, maintain that learning implies discontinuity in conceptual development, because novices must appropriate expert…

The learning cycle is a way to structure inquiry in school science and occurs in several sequential phases. A learning cycle moves children through a scientific investigation by having them first explore materials, then construct a concept, and finally apply or extend the concept to other situations. Why the learning cycle? Because it is a…

The meaning of discovery learning or discovery method of teaching and the goals one might wish to achieve by using this method are discussed. (Author/DEP)

A laboratory study was performed with four levels of discovery and two levels on an overlearning factor. An improved experimental paradigm was chosen so as to avoid a number of confusions which have obscured previous research. An operational definition was developed for discovery and guided discovery and discovery teaching, and inquiry learning.…

The authors briefly review some of the empirical studies which have compared discovery learning with expository learning. Essentially, their study replicates an earlier one in which these learning strategies were compared on two dimensions: (1) immediate acquisition; and (2) retention of concepts. Subjects were 228 seventh graders who had not…

The main concern of this article is to describe some of the aspects or facets of discovery learning situations exemplified by the models and found in curriculum development projects. (Author)

Music teachers can make learning about music more rewarding and effective by improving the setting for conceptual development. The choral laboratory is one important step in music education and a positive method for learning music concepts. (RK)

This article is a commentary on TM 501 927 by the authors of the study "Classification and Seriation Instruction and Logical Task Performance in Preschool." (DEP)

Describes exploratory activities for a young child seeking to become acquainted with the world in which he lives. (EB)

To participate in the increase and dissemination of knowledge about children, the researcher must accept the problem of seeking to become a child again, to re-find discovery and inquiry without their metaphysical underpinnings and conventional opinions. An extended anecdote illustrates one way the author attempted to do this. (MJB)

This article is a rejoinder to TM 501 928. (DEP)

Numerous mathematical examples are presented which illustrate and raise questions about students' tendencies to overgeneralize. (BB)

Suggestions are given relating to having plants and animals in the classroom to stimulate development of the understanding of the concept of being alive, a concept not really understood by children under age nine. The research reviewed promotes firsthand experiences to help form concepts of living and nonliving, of identity and causality. (EB)