This preliminary study examined the meanings, models, and strategies of rural students in grades 3-8 for solving simple, whole number division problems. Findings suggested that students have multiple meanings for division words such as "share" and "fair share." Cultural factors and diversity in the classroom may be associated…

Feeling, emotion, and passion are the "stuff" of everyday experience. This guidebook helps the reader understand emotions in a two-step approach. First, common assumptions about emotion are examined in order to arrive at a deeper understanding of current approaches to emotion, especially as these exist in the fields of psychology and…

This book, which contains 19 chapters, examines children's learning processes in light of reconceptualizations of Piagetian theory. Part one traces the theoretical question underpinning this examination and includes three chapters: "General and Specific Views of the Mind, its Structure, and its Development"; "A Neo-Piagetian…

A study analyzed the prior knowledge state of two university populations: students at the Open University (OU) of the Netherlands and students at the University of Limburg (UL). Analysis of the prior knowledge state was based on an extensive analysis of the literature in relation to theories, models, and practice-based strategies about the…

This paper discusses four areas in the psychology literature that have important implications for the instructional design of microcomputer-based simulations. The first one examined is cognitive structures, and the following suggestions for instructional design are offered: simulations should be appropriate for students' level of understanding;…

The facets of teachers' views of mathematics include their personal views, how they view mathematics for their students, how they view the mathematics curriculum, and how they view mathematics teaching. This paper reports a pilot study to examine how elementary school teachers view mathematics both personally and for their students. A coding…

For those who espouse critical thinking as an educational ideal, the issue of race prejudice should be addressed as an obvious and pernicious example of uncritical thinking because to hold racially prejudiced beliefs is to believe without being appropriately moved by reason. This paper attempts to ascertain how and where critical thinking can come…

This paper reports the preliminary findings of a county-wide study of alcohol and other drug (AOD) behaviors and influences among 2,229 randomly selected students in grade 8, 10, and 12. The discussion focuses on behavioral, cognitive, and environmental predictors of AOD behaviors. The paper highlights a refined study of the influence of peers,…

Ten preservice biology teachers were followed through the final year of their preservice education to assess the content and stability of their knowledge structures of biology. A questionnaire asking the subjects to list the topics which make up biology and to diagram these topics in relation to one another was completed three times during the…

This paper presents background information about the development and functions of hypertext and predicts future changes in converting text into hypertext. The paper describes hypertext as a computer system that allows the interconnection of information in a way that is "transparent" (does not intrude on or interfere with the reader's…

The idea that breaks from experience are necessary and salutary in teacher education is a response to an enduring problem of teacher education: the fact that aspiring teachers come to their preparation with set ideas about teaching, learning, and schooling that fit with the larger ideal and institutional order into which they were born. Typically,…

This publication profiles nine secondary school teachers selected as the 1988-89 Laboratory Fellows by the Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast and Islands. The Teacher Recognition Program is conducted by the Small Schools Network of the Laboratory to recognize outstanding teachers of a particular content area or skill.…

A study was conducted involving two experiments to address the question "What effects do students' beliefs about the nature of knowledge have on comprehension?" Experiment one involved 117 junior college students and 149 university students as subjects. An epistemological questionnaire was administered to the undergraduates. Factor…

This study explored the usefulness of an approach to science instruction which specifically considered children's spontaneous conceptions about natural phenomena. The aim of the instruction was the development of conceptual understanding. The instructional approach involved diagnosing children's spontaneous conceptions, making them aware of their…

This study describes the relationship of two cognitive variables, logical thinking and disembedding ability, to learners' abilities to make conceptual shifts from less acceptable to more acceptable conceptual understandings of a physical phenomenon. The difference in the logical thinking and disembedding ability of students who exhibited different…