In this article, the goal is to describe students' mathematical reasoning in the context of different settings of problem-solving tasks. The core of the tasks are real objects, which are presented to the students with the help of photos, a 3D model or in the environment itself. With reference to the experiential learning theory and relations to…

There is growing interest in implementing reform-based lab courses in undergraduate physics that are student driven rather than instructor driven. In these courses, students develop and carry out experiments while simultaneously reasoning about their hypotheses, data collection procedures, collected evidence, and the relevant physics content.…

The research has shown a model of learning activities that can be used to stimulate reflective abstraction in students. Reflective abstraction as a method of constructing knowledge in the Action-Process-Object-Schema theory, and is expected to occur when students are in learning activities, will be able to encourage students to make the process of…

Gestalt psychologists proposed two distinct learning mechanisms. Associative learning occurs gradually through the repeated co-occurrence of external stimuli or memories. Insight learning occurs suddenly when people discover new relationships within their prior knowledge as a result of reasoning or problem solving processes that re-organize or…

This operational theory of adult learning is based on the premise that learning is a problem-solving process involving attention, differentiation, structuring, integration, abstracting, and generalization. (Journal availability: Department of Adult Education, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506.) (SK)

A theory of adult cognitive development which includes two post-formal operational stages is described. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section provides background for discussion of the theory. A case study in which various employees in a hypothetical organization react to a problem is provided. Examples of pre-logical,…

Reports reasoning skills of graduate nutrition students assessed on the basis of their performance on Piagetian-styled tests. Teaching strategies suggested by Piagetian theory resulted in significant gains in the use of more effective reasoning skills where as the traditional lecture-discussion format did not. Nutrition educational and training…

According to Humean framework, relations are judged to be causal to extent that they are characterized by regularity, continuity, and covariation among college students and college-bound 11- and 14-year-olds. Presents subjects with information about one of the following indices: potential causal factor covaried with effect and potential causal…

Two studies examined the relation between current developmental levels, as estimated by IQ, and proximal levels of development, as estimated by the efficiency of learning and transfer in assisted contexts. Subjects were 8- to ll-year-old children. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed. (HOD)

This study considers two problems related to cognitive development: "Is development hierarchical?" and "If so, what are the mechanisms involved in the process of development?" Analysis of the results of an experiment lead to differentiation of stages of development, and problem-solving strategies at each level are discussed.…

Proposes a new conceptual framework, embedded in a dynamic model, that accounts for children's failure to reason transitively. Examines five different models of transitive reasoning. Develops a model of how children initially represent and then use the ordered information available in the transitive inference model and how these processes change…

The focus of this paper is on some of the difficulties students experience in learning from texts and in solving other types of academic problems, because of their failure to distinguish between skills needed for everyday thinking and those needed for academic thinking. The paper discusses the types of processing problems children experience when…

The papers contained in this document were originally presented at the May 1978 conference on Modeling Mathematical Cognitive Development sponsored by the Models of Learning Mathematics Working Group of the Georgia Center for the Study of Learning and Teaching Mathematics. Most have been revised to reflect comments and suggestions made at the…

Some potential difficulties involved in using "real-life situations" in teaching problem solving are illustrated with a racing car problem. The importance of developing mental images and the ability to abstract in the solution process is indicated. (MP)

Four types of proportionality problems were administered to: (1) secondary school students who were enrolled in Project Physics, and (2) students not enrolled in physics. Both samples were randomly selected. Groups were not found to differ significantly in problem solving ability but both revealed that the ability to solve certain problems was…