Researches carried out all around the world showed that students learn more effectively if they are able to make connections between subjects. This case reports based on an investigation of how mathematics concepts were connected to science concepts by a science teacher in an elementary science classroom, and on the science teacher's views about…

In order to develop successful teaching approaches to transformations of matter, we need to know more about how young students develop an understanding of these processes. In this longitudinal study, we followed 25 students from 7 to 13 years of age in their reasoning about transformations of matter. The questions addressed included how the…

This study reports an adaptive digital learning project, scientific concept construction and reconstruction (SCCR), that was developed based on the theories of Dual Situated Learning Model (DSLM) and scientific reasoning. In addition, the authors investigated the effects of an SCCR related to a "combustion" topic for sixth grade students…

This study aims to add to the growing research related to the implementation of non-traditional writing tasks in classrooms to encourage science literacy. A secondary reanalysis methodology was employed to review student interviews collected as a part of several individual studies during a ten year research program. This method established an…

Presents the use of Piaget-type tasks in interviewing 108 students (grades 6, 7, and 8), to test the validity of a proposed model through which a child must pass in order to understand a specific scientific concept. The subjects' answers were scored based on the substages of development in each of five tasks involving the concept of speed.…

Reported is a study to relate pupils' experience background and the effects of an advance organizer to his ability to understand scientific concepts. The study is based on Ausubel's subsumption theory, which states that the understanding of new learning material can be facilitated if the student has some background information which subsumes the…

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)

The paper presented relates to a study done examining the ability of children from grades one through six to locate a point in one, two, and three dimensions and to order a temporal series of events in one, two, and three dimensions. The performance of the subjects was also used to examine a small part of Piaget's theory of cognitive development.…

This study is based upon an interpretation of Ausubel's subsumption learning theory. The primary characteristic of this theory is that it views a learner's specific content knowledge as a crucial factor in learning. Two types of assessment instruments were used with first-grade students to determine concept attainment based on specific models…

The primary purpose of this paper was to present the distinction between the actual contributions of Piaget regarding epistemological questions and the manner in which these contributions have been interpreted to provide a basis for current educational curriculum reform. It is the contention of the authors that the Piagetian theory concerning the…

SELECTED PAPERS FROM TWO 1964 CONFERENCES ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF COGNITIVE STUDIES AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT ARE INCLUDED IN THIS JOURNAL. SUBJECTS CONSIDERED ARE (1) DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING, (2) AMERICAN COGNITIVE STUDIES, (3) THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COGNITIVE STRUCTURE AND EXPERIENCE, (4) THE USE OF LEARNING RESEARCH IN CURRICULUM…

The Learning Cycle Model presented is an attempt to build an articulated sequence of instructional activities that foster in-depth understanding of a complex natural phenomenon through many direct experiences that include student-generated inquiry, involve student-generated explanation and interpretation, and enrich the developed network of ideas…

This paper describes how the learning cycle leads students to become more skilled reasoners. The three phases of the learning cycle are described and examples and goals of each are provided. Information is also offered on the three types of learning cycles: the descriptive; the empirical-inductive; and the hypothetical-deductive. Each is described…

Reports on a study which investigated the order of acquisition of intuitive notions of qualitative speed. Results indicated that an array of prerequisites, equivalent, and independent relationships existed among the tasks administered. Confirmed the evolution of reasoning for notions of qualitative speed found by Piaget. (Author/TW)

Investigates the abilities of 36 fifth graders and 30 ninth graders who were selected from 11 schools in Thailand to solve problems involving seven of Piaget's logical operations. These operations are classification, seriation, logical multiplication, compensation, proportional thinking, probability, and correlational thinking. (HM)