This article presents the authors' response and clarifications to the comments of Margaret E. Gredler and of Karen A. Krasny, Mark Sadoski, and Allan Paivio on their article "Schema Theory Revisited." The authors first respond to Gredler's criticism contending that they "transmogrified" Harre's (1984) "ignominiously named...Vygotsky space" in…

The impulse to investigate the natural world is deeply rooted in our earliest childhood experiences. This notion has long guided researchers to uncover the cognitive mechanisms underlying the development of scientific reasoning in children. Until recently, however, research in cognitive development and education followed largely independent…

Piagetian tasks varying in complexity were administered to elementary school children in grades K-3. Differences between the attainment of similar concepts occurred when the tasks required different types of inference patterns, had different goals, or involved different percepts. Discusses curriculum implications. (AL)

The development of the concept of matter was explored in children aged 3-13. Eighty four children were asked to classify four sets of objects and matter and to explain their classifications during interviews. Younger children tended to classify using a mixture of extensive properties (properties of objects) and intensive properties (properties of…

Speed and acceleration tasks were administered to children in grades three through six. Piaget's results were replicated. Suggestions concerning the appropriate grade level to introduce different types of motion tasks are made. (AL)

Reviews Piaget's theory of cognitive development and discusses how science concepts can be taught to secondary school students at different cognitive levels. (MLH)

Reviews research in the area of scientific classification of botany concepts. The acquisition, transfer, and ability to use cognitive skills were investigated. (CP)

Reports a study of the correlation between intellectual development and students' understanding of scientific concepts and science processes. Results are reported concerning the reliability and validity of Piagetian or Piagetian-like tasks as measures of students' level of formal reasoning. (Author/SA)

This paper summarizes the recent work of the Maryland Physics Education Research Group on analyzing student learning in introductory university physics. This work is carried out in a model of student thinking and learning based on principles from cognitive science. The model permits a better understanding of, and diagnosis for, the state of both…

Comments on the study of Mali and Howe (1979) which used the work of Nussbaum and Novak to examine the notions that Nepali children hold about the earth. (HM)

During the past 15 years, physics education research has revealed many surprising things about the difficulties introductory physics students have in learning physics. At the same time, the ongoing revolution in information technology has led to new tools for creating innovative educational environments. In response to these two developments, a…

Reviewed are several pertinent research articles dealing with cognitive development, Piaget's theories, and science instruction, especially those that relate to procedures that can be implemented by classroom teachers. The research findings on developmental levels of Piaget discuss: (1) tasks that indicate a change from preoperational to concrete…

This study was conducted to determine the cognitive demand made by an eighth-grade science textbook. Reasoning patterns and science concepts were listed and compared. Concrete reasoning was required more often than formal reasoning, but some points of difficulty for students who are not formal reasoners were noted. (MNS)

This study investigated a problem within the theoretical structure of cognitive development proposed by Jean Piaget, and used the concepts of classification and projective spatial relationships to investigate the nature of attainment and sequencing of three corresponding logical and infralogical groupings according to the models proposed by…

Discusses the nature of the internal representation of cognitive structure, the methodological problems involved in mapping it, and the proposed kinds of "maps." Reviews research on the organization of scientific concepts in semantic memory. (GA)