Counters the following myths: competence has been defined; managerial effectiveness can be identified; management is generic; effectiveness can be measured; management is composed of skills, behaviors, or traits; and only maximum performance counts. (SK)

Continues the discussion about the Third International Mathematics and Science Study results. American eighth-grade students are on a par with science students in New Zealand, China, Iceland, and Bulgaria. Meanwhile, one researcher found that all of the top six countries in TIMSS math had centralized curricula. None relies heavily on tests. (MLH)

Presents a lesson on volcanoes that evaluates student knowledge and misconceptions and provides factual information. (YDS)

Investigates student reasoning about models of conduction. Reports that students often are unable to account for the existence of free electrons in a conductor and create models that lead to incorrect predictions and responses contradictory to expert descriptions of the physics involved. (Contains 36 references.) (Author/YDS)

Investigates the effects of conceptual assignments and conceptual change discussions on high school students' achievement and misconceptions about force and motion. Analyzes pretest and posttest data from the Force Misconception and Force Achievement Tests (FMFAT). Discusses the effects on the conceptual change discussion on reducing…

Points out the importance of students' pre-existing beliefs on students learning and suggests that if new information does not fit with what the students already knows, he or she may simply choose to reject it outright, leaving classrooms having learned nothing. Presents four choices for addressing new information. (Author/YDS)

Demonstrates misconceptions of the meaning of temperature based on classical kinetic energy. Discusses some misconceptions about negative temperatures and the effect of compression. (YP)

Considered are two commonly used techniques, the interview and word association techniques. Highlighted is a third technique called the repertory grid. This third technique can be used to interpret students' knowledge based on an explicit, psychological theory of human behavior. (Author/CW)

Lists commonly held but inaccurate "myths" about teachers and education in the eastern and western United States. Gives a perspective on tools that communication has to offer teachers; concepts and contexts that can be researched and developed; and a cooperative responsibility that can be initiated with colleagues in education. (SR)

Although many school districts report success with outcome-based education, public opposition to it continues to grow. Led by conservative religious and citizens' groups, opponents believe that OBE will lead to continued educational decline, morally offensive textbooks, burgeoning school crime, and psychologically manipulative curricula. This…

Focuses on the provision of meaningful counterintuitive experimental evidence for students while taking into account the relations of theory, instruments, and experimental data. Discusses the use of experiments designed to test pupils' conceptual framework during the teaching of introductory electricity. (JRH)

Far too many school boards and administrators deny that music is one of the "basics." Few U.S. students have access to institutional or private music lessons that involve a balanced, sequential curriculum. Where music programs have been cut, economic crisis has often remained. Of all curriculum disciplines, music has the most experience with…

Examines the predator-prey relations and the preconceptions held by children (n=506) on the construction of food chains. Results show that the classification of herbivores and carnivores is based on children's preconceptions of size and ferocity and sheds light on the difficulties students have at higher education levels in the resolution of food…

Explores the ideal of community and its implications for higher education. Urges would-be reformers to beware prescriptions offering simplistic, universal answers to campus malaise. The learning community idea is attractive, but nostalgia is counterproductive. Demands for open access, real participation, and substantive programmatic change cannot…

Analyzes a senior secondary biology textbook in Nigeria, STAN Biology, for its misconceptions and alternative conceptions. Discusses how the classroom teacher might filter the conceptual problems before they are presented to students as knowledge. Provides examples of the identified misconceptions and alternative conceptions along with their more…