Ideation methods and outcomes have been evaluated in a variety of ways. Our study extends existing work through a qualitative analysis of idea characteristics based on the ideation method used. Beginning engineering students completed two short ideation sessions with a single design problem while following Individual Brainstorming and then Design…

Understanding chemical models can be challenging for many university students studying chemistry. This study analysed students' understanding of molecular structures using the Lewis structure as a model, and examined what hinders their understanding. We conducted pre- and post-tests to analyse students' conceptions and changes in them. The…

The periodic table is recognized as one of the most powerful tools in science. While it is included in virtually all high school and undergraduate general chemistry curricula, it remains a mystery to many chemistry students who find it impossible to decode. Students are often able to predict periodic trends concerning atomic radius, ionization…

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of heuristic strategy on students' mathematical abilities in high order thinking. This descriptive research uses a correlation design. The population of this study were all second-grade public and private high school students representing schools from eight districts in North Sumatra province,…

Presents a cultural-developmental framework for the analysis of children's mathematics in collective practices and illustrates the heuristic value of the framework through the analysis of videotaped episodes drawn from a middle-school classroom. Discusses the promise and limitations of the framework as a method for furthering understanding of the…

Explores the problem-solving behavior of a university lecturer as well as that of undergraduate and graduate students. Identifies and describes 14 physical and cognitive actions employed in the problem solving. Contains 28 references. (DDR)

Advocates removing the taboo regarding anthropomorphism and teleology in biology education. Argues that for high school students, accepting such formulations does not necessarily imply anthropomorphic or teleological reasoning. Further, living organisms seem goal-oriented because of their adaptation for survival. Concludes with the argument that…

The undergraduate curriculum in differential equations has undergone important changes in favor of the visual and numerical aspects of the course primarily because of recent technological advances. Yet, research findings that have analyzed students' thinking and understanding in a reformed setting are still lacking. This paper discusses an ongoing…

A number of studies have reported that there is a strong tendency to ignore base-rate information in favor of individuating information, except when the former can readily be incorporated into a causal schema. In this study, students in eight undergraduate classes were given problems in which the base-rate information was either causal or…

Describes an investigation of the strategies used by 47 high school students in solving volumetric analysis problems in chemistry. Reports that students in the high ability group mainly used the "formula" approach, while those in the low ability group tended to use the "proportional" approach to problem solving. (TW)

Differentiates between learning efficiency (enhancing the rate of learning) and learning effectiveness (enhancing the mastery and retention of facts, concepts, and relationships). Discusses some of the contributions of knowledge engineering to metalearning. Provides a concept map for constructing knowledge bases, along with some possible…