The research reported in this study was done to evaluate the understandings developed by students who meet science concepts through a textbook. Findings indicated that concrete concepts were better understood by eighth grade students than formal concepts and that students achieved some understanding of some formal concepts. (CW)

Presents an examination of the buoyancy principle which can serve as a simple but rigorous illustration of a falsification test that not only clears up a possible misconception but also points the way to a number of practical uses of buoyancy measurements that have not generally been recognized. (MVL)

Israeli children's (kindergarten to grade nine) explanations about the water cycle are described. Reports the children's views about the source of clouds and the mechanism of rainfall. It was concluded that understanding evaporation is a necessary condition for explaining a mechanism of rain containing the ideas of condensation and heaviness. (YP)

Described is a study of 147 students that indicated a high proportion of students did not understand the concept of limiting factors. Textbook presentations that create problems are discussed. Strategies which may be more effective in teaching the concept are suggested. (CW)

Outlines a procedure used to develop a written diagnostic instrument to identify misconceptions and misunderstandings of the chemistry topic. Reports the characteristic data for the instrument, and student understanding of covalent bonding and structure. (Author/YP)

Describes an interdisciplinary approach to science learning in settings usually associated with the humanities or social sciences. Explains the program, its rewards and results, the self and identity seminar, why the program works, and ways of adapting the program. (RT)

How students restructured their scientific ideas in response to contradictions was studied with 166 male and female students (aged 12 to 14 years) who tested their predictions about water displacement by experiment. Conceptual change varied; all subjects tended to hold onto old ideas, even when presented with conflicting information. (SLD)

Examined 8- and 10-year olds' understanding of the unique features of and potential relations among mental activities. Found a developing tendency to organize mental activities on the degree to which memory was a component of the activity. Results suggest that a constructivist theory of mind develops in later childhood. (AA)

Describes observations, written samples, and interviews of (n=24) high school teachers learning concepts of group, subgroup, coset, normality, and quotient group in an Abstract Algebra course. General observations are made about the role of errors and misconceptions in light of an action-process-schema framework. (32 references) (MKR)

Uses manipulative materials to build and examine geometric models that simulate the self-similarity properties of fractals. Examples are discussed in two dimensions, three dimensions, and the fractal dimension. Discusses how models can be misleading. (Contains 10 references.) (MDH)

Explores management of expenditures for public education in welfare state. Faced with fiscal overload, Scottish government is seeking to curb expenditure by engaging the compliance of both professional educators and parents under the guise of school self-management. The government's case rests on a (democratic) rhetoric of choice and ownership but…

Examined inconsistencies in secondary school students' reasoning about the probability concept of equally likely events. Results of two studies suggest that the number of students who understand the concept of independence is much lower than the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress results indicate. (Contains 22 references.) (MDH)

A teacher relates how Foxfire and authentic assessment have changed her view of teaching, learning, and the nature of classwork itself. Proposes that conventional education not only supports belief in a large competence gap between students and teachers, but also perpetuates misconceptions concerning the nature of knowledge, self-worth, and…

Pragmatic and semantic problem solving are examined as processes that enhance acquisition of mathematical knowledge. It is suggested that development of mathematical cognition involves restructuring and that math teachers can help restructure children's knowledge systems by providing them with situations in which semantic and pragmatic problem…

Examines inconsistencies in science textbook discussions of vector quantities and force. Provides illustrations of textbook inconsistencies related to Newton's laws of motion and the concepts of centrifugal and coriolis force. (MDH)