Discusses research findings related to students' ability to make connections between analytical (symbolic) and graphical representations of functions in calculus. Describes graphing tasks and typical student interpretations. Implications for teaching are suggested. (Contains 17 references.) (MKR)

A teaching experiment with six third graders to analyze their ways of operating while solving fraction tasks. Children's quantitative reasoning with fractions was based on their quantitative reasoning with natural numbers. Presents the constructive itinerary of one of the most advanced children in the group. (Contains 44 references.) (Author/MDH)

Investigated the relationship between children's failures to produce unambiguous utterances and the mental effort demands in children (ages five, six, seven, and nine years), using finger-tapping and message production tasks, separately and simultaneously. Findings suggest that the relative effort requirements of communication decrease with…

Five- to six-year-old children estimated the size of Euclidian objects using an addition rule of Height plus Width, rather than a multiplying rule. Within the framework of information integration theory, tested whether intensive handling of objects would facilitate shift from addition rule to multiplication rule. Found that following handling,…

This study identified early conditions of successful adults, via a historical analysis of psychological traits and childhood environments of 38 notable 20th-century American women writers. The study rated multiple traits and conditions representing cognitive, affective, familial, and educational aspects. Results focus on the degree of persistence…

Sampled the speech of American, French, and Swedish mothers to their one-year olds, to analyze distribution of phonetic parameters of adult speech, as well as children's own early words. Found that variability is greater in child words than in adult speech, and mother-child dyads showed no evidence of specific maternal influence on phonetics of…

Reviews how chronic illness affects the psychosocial and cognitive development of ill children, using both Eriksonian and Piagetian theoretical rubrics. Explores family and child stress and coping with medical crises and manifestations of illness. Provides recommendations for enhancing parent and professional communication and educational…

Presents an interview with Kieran Egan, an award-winning professor of education. Egan's research has focused on the role of imagination in learning, providing new understanding on how children's minds work. After presenting an academic portrait of Egan, discusses his opinion on the role of educational theory today and his teaching-as-storytelling…

Interviews with 72 mixed ability students, aged 7 to 12, about arithmetic problem-solving strategies, indicated that the preference between procedural and deductive strategies becomes a divergent reality across ability levels. Among the conclusions is that more able children tend to be doing a qualitatively different sort of mathematics than their…

In an attempt to bridge the perceived distinction between internalized conceptions of mathematics and their external representations, this discussion treats mathematics both as an individual, constructive activity and as a communal, social practice. It is argued that this approach might transcend the tripartite scheme of teacher, student, and…

Found that 75 percent of variance in children's first-grade achievement was predicted by measures of their achievement, object play, and peer interaction in kindergarten; and that aspects of first graders' personality disorders and aggressive behavior were predicted by their popularity in kindergarten. (MM)

Theoretical issues and practical implications of metacognition for reading instruction are discussed. A cognitive training program is introduced, and the effects of the program on the reading skills of 64 sixth graders are analyzed. Results indicate that the program has the potential for improving instruction in reading comprehension and learning.…

Discusses the first session and events from other sessions of a mathematics circle consisting of the author and four preschool children. Presents discussions that ensued with the children when asked to solve problems related to Piaget's stages of cognitive development. (MDH)

Using case studies that are functionalist in orientation and computational in technique, the role of control knowledge in developing constructive thinking is illustrated. Further, the integration of related knowledge structures, emanating from diverse sensory modes and pertaining to both place value in addition and angle relationships in geometry,…

Describes the use of concept mapping (CM) in design, instruction, and assessment related to microbiology lessons prepared for high school students in Israel. Indicates that students utilizing CM displayed an overall, higher achievement gain than students in traditional classes. Recognizes that some teachers did not thoroughly exploit the potential…