Investigates students' conceptions and misconceptions relating to the construction of graphs. Qualitative analysis of students' responses identified three main alternative conceptions. Quantitative analyses of the data indicated that overall students did not enter the learning situation as a tabula rasa. Discusses the theoretical and practical…

Defends affirmative action and explains its historical principles in order to dispel myths surrounding the program. Discusses the pervasiveness of inequality in society and discusses ways that decision makers in higher education can respond to critics of affirmative action. Examines college admission needs and the current legal and political…

States that newspaper and magazine journalism tend to depict handicapped persons as victims. Explains that teachers can help eliminate this stereotypic imagery through writing and critical reading exercises. (GG)

In order to understand and evaluate the continued prevalence of corporal punishment in school systems, this article reviews the following topics: (1) historical issues; (2) current demographics and correlates; (3) the effectiveness of corporal punishment in school settings; (4) myths; (5) alternatives to corporal punishment; and (6) social policy.…

Discusses the problem of symmetry avoidance using water as an historical example. Uses simple pi systems for the analysis. Provides methodology and examples. Investigates two naive arguments. (MVL)

Investigated was the use of cognitive conflict to probe the misconceptions held by preservice elementary teachers that in a division problem the quotient must be less than the dividend. Explains how preservice teachers' reliance on information about the domain of whole numbers and their instrumental understanding support their misconceptions.…

Describes students' misconceptions related to surface area and volume of solid body. Recommends changes in the National Curriculum for Mathematics to make an easy transfer from elementary to secondary school. Provides a table showing diverse levels of the content. (YP)

Describes a computer program presenting four genetics problems to monitor the problem solving process of college students. Identifies three main areas of difficulty: computational skills; determination of gametes; and application of previous learning to new situations. (Author/YP)

The ideas behind electrophilic addition to alkenes, and electrophilic substitution in benzene derivatives are discussed. Teaching these concepts to secondary school students is stressed. Five main points useful at this age level are summarized. (Author/CW)

Explored in this article are various cultural beliefs against the backdrop of the science syllabus prescribed by the Caribbean Examinations Council. Allowances for different beliefs between Caribbean islands are suggested. (CW)

Describes the nature of cognitive research. Misconceptions research in mechanics and electricity are reviewed. Research results on expert/novice differences in knowledge organization and problem solving are reviewed. Implications for classroom teaching are discussed. Lists 34 references. (YP)

Discusses the causes and effects of conceptual errors inadvertently introduced and nurtured by scientists, teachers, and textbook writers. Cites ways to prevent the communication breakdowns that prevent the learning of science. (RT)

Discusses the rationality of students' alternative frameworks by considering the role played by their beliefs, their understanding of other views, and the reasons for justification or rejection. Investigates the way in which 14-year-old boys see the effects of classroom learning experience on their ideas. (Author/YP)

Examines relationships between factors affecting high school students' (n=142) ability to acquire meaningful understanding of specific biological concepts. Assessment using mental modeling techniques showed a significant correlation between students' meaningful learning orientation and their understanding of a topic. Suggests that perhaps much…

Explains reasons why students have misconceptions concerning pendulum swings. Presents a series of 10 pendulum task cards to provide middle-school students with a solid mental scaffolding upon which to build their knowledge of kinetic energy and pendulums. (PR)