Assessments associated with learning progressions are designed to provide diagnostic information about the level and nature of student understanding. Valid interpretations of such diagnoses are only possible when students consistently express the ideas associated with a single learning progression level. Latent class analysis was employed to…

Presents a model that describes how students reconstruct geological transformations over time. Defines the critical factors influencing reconstructive thinking: (1) the transformation scheme, which influences the other diachronic schemes; (2) knowledge of geological processes; and (3) extracognitive factors. (Author/KHR)

This in-depth examination of a line explores several ways that the infinite nature and finite representation of a line can be perceived. These attempts to understand the nature of the line give insights into the nature of understanding itself. (MDH)

Synthesized are a number of learning theories (those of Piaget, Bruner, Gagne, Dienes and Skemp) to form one composite teaching-learning model. This model is then applied to mathematics teaching. An example is provided to illustrate how the model may be used to elaborate a teaching-learning scheme for solving quadratic equations. (Author/DS)

Describes an approach to teaching complex models in science that uses a model construction cycle of generation, evaluation, and modification. Reports on a case study of a student in a tutoring experiment in the study of electric circuits. Focuses on the role of analogies, discrepant events, and the student's moments of surprise as motivators of…

Information-processing students solving problems in the 1960s and 1970s accepted the tradition of early experimental psychology in concentrating primarily on the study of "knowledge-lean" tasks in which competence can usually be acquired over short periods of learning and experience. In recent years, experts have examined knowledge-rich…

Explores connections between naive epistemology and everyday instructional practice. Reviews examples of naive epistemologies as made up of fine-grained, context-sensitive resources. Presents strategies designed to help students tap those resources for learning introductory physics. Reflects on this work as an example of interplay between two…

Beneath elements of cognitive development, motivation is seen as a basic concept to describe students' learning in a physics classroom. German secondary school students regard physics as difficult to learn, very abstract, and dominated by males. Knowing about the influence of motivation on learning physics may lead to new insights in the design of…

The Instrumental Enrichment (IE) program, a set of structured pencil-and-paper exercises, is designed to modify the cognitive abilities of retarded adolescents over a 2- to 3-year instructional time span. Major concepts and goals of the IE program are discussed. A review of evaluation studies is presented in chart format. (JW)

Describes a research project with teen-aged students in Denmark to illustrate the cognitive processes involved in learning computer programing and discusses the difficulties students encounter when learning to program. The use of home computers is briefly examined in the context of the need for human interaction in learning programing. (Author/LRW)

Reports on a study which sought to identify and examine the effects of certain learning strategies--practice, monitoring, and inferencing--on second language learning. (AM)

Examines the effects of using a conflict map on 8th grade students' conceptual change and ideational networks about simple series electric circuits. Analyzes student interview data through a flow map method. Shows that the use of conflict maps could help students construct greater, richer, and more integrated ideational networks about electric…

Tests the hypothesis that an early adolescent brain growth plateau and spurt exists, and that this plateau and spurt influence students' ability to reason scientifically and to learn theoretical science concepts. Finds that measures of students' (n=210) prefrontal lobe activity correlated highly with scientific reasoning ability, and that these…

Argues against the claim that Piaget's theory of formal thought is invalid when used in learning high school chemistry, and suggests a way to test its validity. (GA)

Discussed are the influences of a student's gender, grade level, country of origin, and urban/rural environment in performance of proportional and combinatorial Piagetian tasks. (Author/SA)