Two questionnaires were given to 38 students (16-18 year olds), in which they were asked to classify a list of different conceptual entities by several ontological features. The results suggest the form of a fundamental "ontological space" and locate some scientific concepts in this space. (Author)

Describes Australian secondary school, undergraduate, and postgraduate students' use of analogy and anthropomorphism along with their alternative conceptions for mental models of chemical bonding. Finds that learners make use of analogy and anthropomorphism to aid their explanations of chemical bonding, and in addition reveals that learners across…

The consistency, if any, with which force concepts are used by individual students in different, but closely related, contexts was investigated. A total of 534 university and high school students were tested to elicit their beliefs about the forces acting on various objects. Students' beliefs about the forces acting on objects at rest and in…

Discusses the rationality of students' alternative frameworks by considering the role played by their beliefs, their understanding of other views, and the reasons for justification or rejection. Investigates the way in which 14-year-old boys see the effects of classroom learning experience on their ideas. (Author/YP)

Examines gender stereotyping, homonegativity, and erroneous beliefs about sexual coercion among adolescents. Responses from 1,045 questionnaires from tenth- and twelfth-grade students show males are more homonegative, gender stereotypic, and supportive of erroneous beliefs about sexual coercion than are female adolescents. Additionally, findings…

Discusses (1) the need for teachers to understand student conceptions; (2) alternative conceptions that students formulate; (3) changing conceptions; (4) representing conceptual knowledge for studying conceptual change; (5) strategies for inducing change; and (6) a taxonomy of conceptual change. (Contains 61 references.) (MDH)