Presents some of the misconceptions school-age children have about issues related to global warming/global climatic change. Discusses strategies for mitigation. (Author/CCM)

Analyzes influence of rape myths on victims' decisions to report rapes. Examines respondents' perceptions of responsibility and evaluation of incidents. Explains respondents with strong beliefs in rape myths contribute to a tolerance of the rapist while blaming the victim. Implies attitudes reinforce unreported rapes and a lack of fair trials.…

Argues that Ernst Haeckel's drawings of vertebrate embryos (1891), which have been widely used in biology textbooks to illustrate his "Biogenetic Law", are factually flawed. Discusses the problems with Haeckel's drawings and his theory. Contains 14 references. (WRM)

"Then and now" studies of student performance cannot honestly assess public education today. Student achievement is the product of many socializing institutions--especially the family, whose influence is affected by parents' socioeconomic status and ethnic/cultural values. David Grissmer's analysis of National Assessment of Educational…

Contemporary education policy is dominated by a seriously flawed intellectual framework (school effectiveness) that will eventually fail as a means of educating future citizens. Draws on the work of Scottish philosopher John MacMurray to offer a positive alternative: person-centered education based on emancipatory, communitarian values. (Contains…

Identifies misconceptions concerning the effect of gravity on planetary motion and attempts to foster conceptual change through the hands-on, informal environment of a science museum. (Author/CCM)

Discusses students' (n=10,058) problems with naming oxo salts following a given formula. Many students incorrectly named oxo salts as oxides, and the students' own names for the compounds were more helpful to find the correct formula than the common names. Concludes that high school students are more interested in intellectually challenging…

Students' belief that a larger number has more factors is outlined as a particular example of 'the more of A, the more of B' intuitive rule. Discusses the robustness of this belief by demonstrating students' tendency to perceive conflicting evidence as an exception to the rule. Considers some pedagogical approaches. (Contains 12 references.)…

Some studies of hypertext/hypermedia systems have concluded that there is little evidence supporting its educational efficacy. After examining conceptual and methodological shortcomings of research, this article suggests that the educational potential of hypertext/hypermedia has been underestimated and argues that overcoming these shortcomings…

Rebuts Alfie Kohn's article "Only for My Kid: How Privileged Parents are Undermining School Reform" in the April 1998 "Kappan." Kohn expects the author to pay a fortune for a home in an affluent community so his kids can get violence-prevention training and sing "Kumbaya" in a mainstreamed classroom. Earning the right…

Three big ideas from brain science have arisen during the past 20 to 30 years: neural connections form rapidly early in life; critical periods occur in development; and enriched environments profoundly affect brain development during the early years. Current brain research has little to offer educational practice or policy. (10 references) (MLH)

Presents a survey and analysis of research related to the development of concepts of matter. Proposes that the clarity with which students understand the distinction between matter and objects influences their explanations. Contains 111 references. (DDR)

Studies aspects of the conceptual reorganization and change of students aged 12-18 (N=40). Describes conceptual change through case studies and students' identifications of chemical reactions. Contains 18 references. (DDR)

Because of continuous centering and recentering, paradigm shifts posited by Kuhn are not really changes; they are commensurate. New theories are simply old theories remade and renamed. The alternative is to consider conceptual diversity, abandoning the idea of a paradigm or a singular field of theory and practice. (Contains 27 references.) (MLH)

Studies (n=51) inservice school teachers with regard to their orientations toward geoscience phenomena in general and deep time in particular. Aims to identify the nature of idiosyncratic conceptions of deep time and propose a curricular Deep Time Framework for teacher education. (Contains 29 references.) (Author/YDS)