This manual describes two methods of assessing college students' conceptual structures in the interest of student evaluation. The focus is on the mental frameworks (conceptual structures) that enable students to remember and apply facts and theories. The guide offers two methods, the "ordered-tree" and the "fill-in-the-structure." An introduction…

Reports on the assessment of student thinking in the area of commitment to the laws of conservation of matter and energy during a study of conceptual change among introductory chemistry students. States four conditions upon which strategies for conceptual change are based. (RT)

The importance of instructing gifted students in correlational reasoning is emphasized, with attention to what the skill involves and why it is difficult to learn; effective teaching strategies; and successful programs in whole-class, cooperative-learning, and computer formats. Implications in programming for gifted students are discussed. (SW)

The contrast between the teaching of reading and mathematics is drawn. A new set of learning conditions for mathematics is presented based on a model of reading instruction. Immersion, demonstration, engagement, expectations, responsibility, use approximation, response, refinement, and outcomes are discussed. (CW)

Reviews a monograph which addresses children's higher-order thinking skills. Suggests the following for teaching problem solving: identify and develop content-independent and content-dependent problem-solving skills, connect developed skills through workshop-style activities to subject discipline, and help students identify and reconstruct their…