In 2 experiments, 261 middle school students processed an analogy and responded to factual and inferential target-domain questions in a study of variables that contribute to the formation of analogical misconceptions. Results of both experiments support a six-variable model of analogical misconception formation. (SLD)

This article discusses preparation of research reports in light of how the information is likely to be evaluated and how the report contributes to the research process. The focus is on description, explanation, and contextualization of the study. Common issues related to interpretation of assessment studies are also highlighted. (SLD)

Suggests that models of parenting style, such as Baumrind's popular model, are insensitive to variations in parenting resulting from characteristics of the different situations in which the parenting is expressed. Argues that considering parenting in context adds greater specificity to the model and enhances the potential for predicting child…

This interpretive case study examined how members of a college culture (faculty and administrators) experienced change related to the entry of a new college president, and how the president himself changed as a result. The relationship between established community members and the new president is explored in five phases. (SLD)

British students completed assessments examining the extent to which they could control variables and ways factors like question format and context affected their test performance. Factors within the questions, rather than skills themselves, led to large variations in facility. Aspects of the questions themselves were the most significant…

Children of 5, 9, and 13 years of age were asked to allocate resources in hypothetical situations in which norms of equity, equality, or need were applicable. Young children were insensitive to the contextual information, whereas older children appropriately tailored their decisions to the situation. (BC)

An understanding of where a user is in a research project (the research script) combined with an understanding of the discourse-level features of empirical abstracts (as revealed by lexical clues) can improve information retrieval. An information retrieval system which takes situational and linguistic factors into account is proposed. (47…

The development of reflective processes and the role of self-reflection in learning are examined. It is suggested that analysis of levels of conceptions or psychological processes through the phenomenographic method may clarify the development of metacognitive beliefs. Learning to use metacognitive knowledge and training reflective skills are…

A survey of mathematics teachers was conducted to determine the value, advisability, and feasibility of using the workplace as a context for teaching mathematics. Results indicated that of the respondents, few were aware of published materials in this area, most felt that workplace-related materials were relevant and aimed at lower level students,…

Two key assumptions of conventional test design--the compartmentalization of knowledge and the decontextualization of knowing--are false. Because competent performance requires both context and judgment, it is senseless to test for mastery as an unvarying response to unambiguous stimuli. Test-makers must link their tests to the tasks, contexts,…

Since 1988, National Center for School Leadership at University of Illinois has systematically explored what school leaders can do to enhance classroom teaching and student learning. Articles in this section focus on NCSL findings and illuminate connections between leadership and reform. Researchers assumed leadership is multidimensional, student…

Consists of three sections bound together by a common theme and reference list. The first section, by Gail Burnaford, addresses teacher action research as essential for motivating students and giving teachers a voice in curriculum. Section 2, by James Beane, explores common assumptions behind action research and integrative curriculum. Section 3,…

Although one national goal proposes that all Americans will have all knowledge necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise citizenship responsibility, others fail to explain how children incarcerated in standards-driven schools will make sense of the world. The microsociety school approach radically recontextualizes in-school learning by…

This article promotes the use of contextual constructionism in evaluation research. The call for truth in sentencing in Tennessee (and across the country) is used to illustrate the conflict among stakeholders that arises from program evaluation and to show how their multiple realities make a contextual constructionist approach pertinent. (SLD)

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…