This newsletter describes an ongoing empirical field study involving a description and analysis of practical teaching situations aimed at describing the content and structure of pupils' frames of reference. The project takes the form of a series of case studies in classes of the 3-year lines of upper secondary schools in Sweden. The study seeks to…

Without special training, most people predominantly process data in one of four ways. Few achieve a coveted whole brain state that integrates such important but separate brain functions as logic and intuition. With new training techniques that exploit the holographic properties of the brain, organizations may be able to tap powerful whole brain…

This study investigated the flexibility of 16 supervisors in implementing a developmental approach to supervisor-supervisee interaction during the postobservation conference. Specific objectives included determining: (1) if supervisors' diagnoses of supervisees' conceptual levels (CL) agreed with the Paragraph Completion Method (PCM) measurement…

The reviews of articles contained in this issue have been grouped into those dealing with research related to cognitive development and to instruction. In addition, seven science education researchers have provided responses to critiques of their published research. Included are: (1) an analysis of an article designed to persuade researchers to…

This paper examines how teachers develop and modify professional knowledge in response to experience and to new research knowledge. A discussion is presented on the interaction of propositional knowledge (the basic medium of classroom and research knowledge) and practical knowledge (the observable competence apparent in successful professional…

The purpose of this paper is to make educators, authors, and publishers aware that they must be concerned with rhetorical form as well as content if they wish to present students with accessible, useful textbooks. Using a case study of textbook perception and use in a school district's sixth grade social studies classrooms, the paper illustrates…

Secondary school geometry students have been found to have misconceptions concerning parallel lines. Correctional teaching programs did not seem effective in changing these misconceptions. This research describes an attempt to use teaching strategies which take into account current learning theory and which encourages students to be actively…

This paper describes further research on a learning procedure for layered networks of deterministic, neuron-like units, described by Rumelhart et al. The units, the way they are connected, the learning procedure, and the extension to iterative networks are presented. In one experiment, a network learns a set of filters, enabling it to discriminate…

The technical reports summarized in this paper were prepared as part of a project designed to determine what is known about the teaching of cognitive skills and to formulate questions relating to such teaching for further research. Topics discussed in the 22 reports include the following: (1) teaching thinking; (2) Aristotle's logic; (3) a…

To discover the relationship between cognitive development and writing, a means of assessing writing is needed that reflects accurately changes in the way children write as they grow older. This may be accomplished by using Piaget's characteristics of concrete and formal operations. His framework permits general descriptions of thinking, organized…

Compares the results of surveys done in 1975 and 1985 with Indiana teachers regarding their physical environment and related problems. Results indicated that teachers had limited environmental literacy but had higher marks in 1985 than in 1975. (TW)

Reviews experimental studies and field investigations of the influence of violence in the mass media on aggressive behavior. Relates this research to recent developments in cognitive psychology. Suggests that the cognitive-neoassociationist hypothesis provides the best explanation for the overall findings and may subsume other hypotheses…

Identifies and discusses the epistemological roots of various terms that have been used to describe student conceptions in the literature with a view to suggest which term science eductors should adopt. Argues that "alternative conceptions" is preferable to "alternative frameworks" for use in describing student conceptions in…

Explains the constructivist theory of knowledge and discusses the theory's implications for teaching remedial college students. Analyzes student performance on a college placement test to highlight the differences between how novices and experts process scientific or mathematical materials. Suggests a radical change in introductory algebra…

Focuses on the language used by elementary mathematics teachers and its relationship to students' understanding of mathematical concepts, as well as their misconceptions. Describes eight situations in which the use of precise, formal mathematical terms could be replaced by informal language, particularly when introducing new concepts. (TW)