The study of preservice elementary teachers' knowledge of fractions is important because fractions are notoriously difficult to learn and teach. Unfortunately, studies of preservice teachers' fraction knowledge are limited and have focused primarily on division. The present study included all four operations to provide a more comprehensive…

Knowledge of animals may influence children's beliefs and behaviour toward them, thus building positive attitudes toward animals is one of main goals of environmental education programmes. Although keeping animals contributes to the increase of children's positive attitudes toward wild animals, pet owners show similar negative attitudes toward…

This paper reports case study research into the knowledge and understanding of chemistry for six secondary science student teachers. It combines innovative student-generated computer animations, using "ChemSense" software, with interviews to probe understanding of four common chemical processes used in the secondary school curriculum. Findings…

This study investigated Greek high school students' intentions and motivation towards and against pursuing academic studies in Computer Science (CS), the influence of the family and the scholastic environment on students' career choices, students' perceptions of CS and the Information Technology (IT) profession as well as students' attendance at…

The purpose of this study was to examine preservice mathematics teachers' knowledge about common (mis)conceptions and difficulties of elementary students. In addition, it was aimed to investigate preservice teachers' knowledge about the possible sources of these misconception/difficulties, and their suggested strategies to overcome those…

Misconceptions about HIV/AIDS among Latino adults (N=454) in California were examined using data from a population-based telephone survey conducted in 2000. Common misconceptions concerning modes of HIV transmission included transmission via mosquito or animal bite (64.1%), public facilities (48.3%), or kissing someone on the cheek (24.8%). A…

This paper explores ways in which gendered approaches have limited women's experience of higher education. Using a historical lens with primary examples from the United States and Britain, it demonstrates how beliefs about women over time led to three expectations about their educational participation: initially, that women were not interested in…

Earthquake, a natural disaster, is among the fundamental problems of many countries. If people know how to protect themselves from earthquake and arrange their life styles in compliance with this, damage they will suffer will reduce to that extent. In particular, a good training regarding earthquake to be received in primary schools is considered…

In 2002, the geographic knowledge of college-age students in the North was highlighted in a survey sponsored by the National Geographic Society. Students in the U.S. ranked second to last among those surveyed on questions assessing basic knowledge of world geography. That many young adults got "the facts" wrong about particular places…

In the author's experience, a significant source of reading difficulty for many beginning and struggling readers are misconceptions about print concepts so basic teachers assume their students are aware of them. Many children fail to grasp implicit principles of print such as the following: the reader cannot make up the words, the order of letters…

This paper indicates that prospective teachers' familiarity with theoretical models of students' ways of thinking may contribute to their mathematical subject matter knowledge. This study introduces the intuitive rules theory to address the intuitive, "same sides-same angles" solutions that prospective teachers of secondary school mathematics come…

Children's understanding about animal internal structure can be affected by several factors which are poorly understood by teachers. We conducted a large sample study (n=702) of children aged 6-16 years (Grades 1-9) examining children's responses to animals of various size, species and dimensions (2D and 3D objects), and exploring factors which…

In this article we report on a group activity, based on previous work [Hansson & Redfors: 2006b, "Science & Education" (accepted)], in an upper secondary physics class in Sweden. The aim was to engage students in a discussion about which presuppositions that are really necessary for physics. During the activity the students were…

Affirmative action, a controversial topic about which students have many misconceptions, lends itself especially well to a sociological analysis. This paper describes an approach to teaching that: (1) informs students of different affirmative action programs; (2) gives them the opportunity to apply and integrate a variety of concepts and research…

This article describes the process of creating training data for a game developed to promote cross-cultural competence among students studying in a culture different from their own. The process of creating game cards (known as culture assimilators) begins with the collection of reports of intercultural misunderstandings. This phase of data…