Two studies examining student images of the world as depicted on sketch maps are compared. The first study collected sketch maps of the world drawn by high school and university students in the United States, Canada, Finland, and Sierra Leone to examine the influence of location on student perceptions. The second study collected maps drawn by…

Sex differences on Perry's stages of epistemological development were investigated in a study of 100 freshmen (50 men and 50 women) at a large midwestern university. A semi-structured interview probed six domains related to Perry's theory, including the role of the learner, instructor, and peers in the learning situation, the question of…

As part of a broad effort to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of embedded training environments, research was conducted using a Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) console emulator. Objectives were to: (1) develop methodological guidelines for specifying the instructional content of training exercises to be embedded in NTDS consoles; (2)…

One of the most common misconceptions about probability is the belief that successive outcomes of a random process are not independent. This belief has been dubbed the "gambler's fallacy". The belief that non-normative expectations such as the gambler's fallacy are widely held has inspired probability and statistics instruction that attempts to…

The major perspectives on problem solving of the twentieth century are reviewed--associationism, Gestalt psychology, and cognitive science. The results of the review on teaching problem solving and the uses of computers to teach problem solving are included. Four major issues related to the teaching of problem solving are discussed: (1)…

Education in America is facing a postindustrial crisis of legitimacy brought on by the cultural contradictions of advanced American capitalism. The theorist and social critic, D. Bell, describes the most significant feature of postindustrial society as "the disjunction of realms." This concept describes the progressive division of labor…

This paper aims to clarify and describe the process of change in learners' conceptual understanding of natural phenomena. It begins by reviewing the existing literature on models of conceptual change and on children's conceptions in a number of selected topic areas. Strategies for exploring and developing children's ideas in these areas have also…

Although central office supervisors are emerging as critical linchpins of school improvement efforts, research is quite limited in this area. This study differs from previous efforts by focusing on the administrator's real world and identifying the subjective role conceptions and statements shared by four outstanding central office supervisors. It…

Noting that the study of intrapersonal communication (inner speech) is increasingly recognized as an integral part of communication education, this paper argues that introspective writing, such as memoirs and personal journals, can be studied in communication classes for the confirmation they offer of theoretical descriptions of internal…

This ERIC Digest describes the parameters of misconception research as it relates to the learning of science and highlights some of its implications for the teaching of science in the elementary school. The document reviews terminology associated with misconception research, identifies common characteristics of misconceptions, and specifies…

The environmental movement of the 1960s and 1970s caused an increase in special interest magazines on the market and in environmental education programs in the schools. These magazines communicated science and environmental information, which often could not be found anywhere else, to an increasingly sophisticated audience. However, the field of…

This study tested the effectiveness of having fifth-grade students generate their own examples of selected concepts on energy. Hypotheses were that subjects would perform better on sections of a test related to definitions and recognition of exemplars of the concepts for which they found their own examples than on sections related to comparible…

This study develops and employs the construct, personal orientation to science learning, to study the processes by which children construct meaning as they learn science in school. The theoretical bases of the thesis are the commitments of a constructivist view of learning and the psychological framework of George Kelly's Personal Construct…

Misconceptions are systematic, intelligently conceived, and quite reasonable theories that have been constructed on the basis of experience. Research studies on misconceptions have indicated that students develop intelligently conceived and sophisticated concepts of science. Although some of these are compatible with the principles of modern…

After observing secondary school students having great difficulty learning geometry in their classes, Dutch educators Pierre van Hiele and Dina van Hiele-Geldof developed a theoretical model involving five levels of thought development in geometry. It is the purpose of this monograph to present English translations of some significant works of the…