This study was designed to identify and analyze possible factors that mediate the effect of gender on ninth-grade Turkish students' misconceptions concerning electric circuits. A Simple Electric Circuit Concept Test (SECCT), including items with both practical and theoretical contexts, and an Interest-Experience Questionnaire about Electricity…

This article presents an interview with Dr. Sylvia O. Richardson, a pediatrician, speech-language pathologist, researcher, scholar, teacher, and clinician, who has been involved in the field of language-learning disabilities for many years. Widely-published in the areas of language disorders and dyslexia, and a former President of the American…

A 25-item survey was administered to 45 teachers to identify what they knew about Minimal Hearing Loss (MHL) and to verify or refute five possible misperceptions reported earlier by Goldberg and McCormick Richburg (2004). Results support the importance of an educational audiologist on the service delivery team to help teachers understand the…

With the increasing complexity of technology, it is important for each citizen to be able to make informed decisions about the technology that he or she uses. This article suggests that a proactive approach to advocating technological literacy is important in changing the greater public's misconceptions of what it means to be technologically…

Using primary sources in history classes is all the rage. But if teachers are not reflective about the best use of such materials, they may engage students in exercises that are neither historically nor instructionally sound. In this article, the author points out common misconceptions about primary sources and suggests ways to maximize their…

We previously examined how three approaches to directing students in a laboratory setting impacted their ability to repair a faulty mental model in respiratory physiology (Modell, HI, Michael JA, Adamson T, Goldberg J, Horwitz BA, Bruce DS, Hudson ML, Whitescarver SA, and Williams S. Adv Physiol Educ 23: 82?90, 2000). This study addresses issues…

In an investigation of the learning of science content knowledge in a postgraduate preservice education course, it was found that the 'failure of further learning' effect can be overcome, at least in part, in well-designed courses. Nevertheless the persistence of certain misconceptions among some students did indicate the partial salience of the…

During the coming years the number of older adults will increase dramatically, which will require a corresponding increase in the number of social workers who have accurate knowledge of this population. This article reports the impact focus groups with older adults and with service providers who work with older adults and their families have on…

Investigates student understanding of energy and momentum concepts in introductory physics by designing and administering a 25-item, multiple-choice test and conducting individual interviews. Indicates that most students have difficulty in qualitatively interpreting basic principles related to energy and momentum and in applying them in physical…

Working in the foundation stage requires careful planning and effective use of new experiences, so that teachers can help children to extend their skills, develop their confidence and build on what they already know. They can also set challenges, as Bruner commented: "Any idea or body of knowledge can be presented in a form simple enough so…

This paper provides analysis on the frequency and nature of accidents and near accidents that have occurred in larger outdoor education centres in New Zealand. This is the first time that information of this type has been collected and analysed in New Zealand. All 25 of the known outdoor education organisations employing three or more full-time…

The current consideration of technology as "applied science", this is to say, as something that comes "after" science, justifies the lack of attention paid to technology in science education. In our paper we question this simplistic view of the science-technology relationship, historically rooted in the unequal appreciation of intellectual and…

The authors examined the crowd sections of 20 introduction to sociology textbooks, coding them for the presence of seven crowds myths--claims about crowds that have no empirical support and have been rejected by scholars in the field. The number of myths per book ranges from five to one. The authors conclude by making suggestions for rewriting…

In a recent article in this journal, Lombard, Snyder-Duch, and Bracken (2002) surveyed 200 content analyses for their reporting of reliability tests, compared the virtues and drawbacks of five popular reliability measures, and proposed guidelines and standards for their use. Their discussion revealed that numerous misconceptions circulate in the…

When fielders catch fly balls they use geometric properties to optically maintain control over the ball. The strategy provides ongoing guidance without indicating precise positional information concerning where the ball is located in space. Here, the authors show that observers have striking misconceptions about what the motion of projectiles…