Explains a strategy called "What Do I 'S'ee? What Do I 'T'hink? What Do I 'W'onder?" (STW) which helps students look carefully at pictures in storybooks and think about a story's character, setting, and events. Notes that the STW strategy provides opportunities for students with varying reading abilities and diverse experiences to work together…

Explores secondary school, undergraduate, and graduate level learners' mental models of bonding with ionic substances through an interview protocol involving the use of physical substances and a focus card containing depictions of ionic bonding and structure. Suggests that teachers and university faculty need to provide stronger links between the…

Presents several activities for helping kindergarten and first grade students develop an understanding of the main idea concept. (MM)

Presents a technique for introducing analysis of variance (ANOVA) at the concrete level of operational thought, enabling students in introductory statistics courses to understand the complex correlations and interactions between variables. Helps students develop an intuitive understanding of the concepts of between- and within-groups variance and…

Discusses why improvements in teaching mathematics are needed, including discussion of students, human development, knowledge and learning, structure of schools and instructional programs, and mathematics. Also discusses a need for two theories: (1) how young people form self-concepts and (2) classification of approaches to curricula and…

Discussed is the research method of "didactic engineering" and the potential theoretical problems of putting research findings into practical use as teaching methods in mathematics classrooms. Cited is the possible incompatibility between the theoretical principles of experimental methods and teachers' conceptions. (MDH)

Discussed is the importance of establishing the link between students' understanding of mathematics in real world settings and the symbolism used to represent that mathematics. Examples provide evidence that students and sometimes teachers fail to establish that link. References are given for resources providing strategies and contexts to assist…

Niels Bohr's term "complementarity" has been used by several authors to capture the essential aspects of the cognitive and epistemological development of scientific and mathematical concepts. In this paper we will conceive of complementarity in terms of the dual notions of extension and intension of mathematical terms. A complementarist approach…

Lev Vygotsky (1986-1934) was an educational theorist and psychologist of extraordinarily wide knowledge whose major writings deal with the entire learning-teaching-development experience. Despite a wide-ranging interest in Vygotskian theory, the issue of imagination remains outside of the main line of general inquiries into his work. Thus, there…

Preschoolers experience the world in its purest form, to the delight of those who are not too busy to observe. Preschool is an opportune time to begin to apply Bloom's Taxonomy, given young children's openness and willingness to see the world in so many ways. This article provides playful and engaging activities for preschoolers which help enhance…

The present study builds on earlier work by Meyer and Land (2003) which introduced the generative notion of "threshold concepts" within (and across) disciplines, in the sense of transforming the internal view of subject matter or part thereof. In this earlier work such concepts were further linked to forms of knowledge that are "troublesome",…

An element of current reform in science education worldwide is the shift from the dominant traditional algorithmic lower-order cognitive skills (LOCS) teaching, to the higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS)-promoting learning; that is, the development of students' capabilities including those of question asking (QA), critical/system thinking (CST),…

In this article, the authors review "The Music, Movement, and Learning Connection," written by early childhood educator and musician Hap Palmer in the September 2001 issue of Young Children, which is of significant interest to parents and teachers. As trained musicians, the authors agree with Palmer's message about music's positive effect on…

The move towards applying outcome-based education in teaching and learning at tertiary education level has become an important topic in Malaysia. Apart from the three learning domains; namely, cognitive, psychomotor and affective, the Ministry of Higher Education has determined eight learning outcomes which are important in providing wholesome…

Classes of undergraduate and graduate students assigned to three professors were used to experience cooperative learning, jigsaw strategies, and to reflect on the process that occurred over a semester. The work is based upon theories of social interdependence, cognitive development, and behavioral learning. Pre- and post surveys were completed by…