Argues that the challenge for teachers of algebra in Australia is to find ways of making the structural aspects of algebra accessible to a greater percentage of students. Uses the zero product principle to provide an example of a common student error grounded in the difficulty of understanding the structure of algebra. (DDR)

Discusses a commonly held misconception that in the throwing of two dice, if a total of seven does not come up for a period of time then its appearance is imminent. Describes an experiment to disprove the misconception and includes a discussion of the theory that frames the results. (DDR)

Presents a new research-based course on quantum mechanics in which the conceptual issues of quantum mechanics are taught at an introductory level. Involves students in the discovery of how quantum phenomena deviate from classical everyday experiences. (Contains 31 references.) (Author/YDS)

Examines the author's discovery of elementary students' science misconceptions derived from the books she chose to share as read-alouds. Identifies three intertwining elements that might have led intelligent, curious young learners to create impossible science from these read-aloud sessions. Uses these three elements to organize personal…

Presents data illustrating some of the problems that students encounter when learning about force for the first time. The data illuminate the complexity of the task that students face and reveal some difficulties that have received little attention in the literature. Discusses some issues that arise regarding the traditional presentation of…

Describes action research experiences as the study was conducted and reflection upon the results. Determines whether 1st grade students have similar misconceptions about animals. Investigates whether a constructivist approach focusing on students' prior knowledge could alter the misconceptions. (Author/KHR)

Relates how a blunder about the Arctic Ocean and the polar ice cap made by the author in his first year of teaching led to a successful learning experience. Lists five important discussion topics that social studies teachers should use to teach about this remote, but strategic, part of the world. (LS)

Addresses common misconceptions about young adolescents, concentrating on some truths garnered from middle-school art teachers' experience. Young adolescents can respect authority, are capable of self-discipline, can manage their own behavior and art materials, are bored by routine assignments, enjoy learning and applying new skills, have adequate…

Regardless of how many times people are told by the Educational Testing Service not to use the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) as a gross measure of school productivity, the test continues to be used for that purpose. This article shows how misleading SAT scores and per-student-expenditure correlations are used to justify spending less money on…

An education professor describes bewildered responses to basic, if annoying, questions he asks regarding education's role and purpose. There is probably no single thing that everyone has to know. Education is a lifetime, seamless experience, connecting individual episodes into an ever-expanding web of meaning, insight, and understanding. Teachers…

Explores changes in students' conceptions about solution chemistry in the context of instruction based on collaboration between a researcher and an experienced teacher attempting to implement strategies from the literature on conceptual change. (ZWH)

Summarizes evidence supporting and refuting myths and common beliefs about alcohol abuse among American Indians. Discusses the prevalence of drinking and alcoholism among Indians, alcohol metabolism, drinking styles, alcohol-related deaths, uncritical use of statistics, alcohol-related child abuse and neglect, sex differences, fetal alcohol…

Identifies some of the erroneous and misleading statements discovered in the three-volume middle and junior high school integrated science text, SCIENCE Interactions. (ZWH)

Explores and documents the frequencies of conceptual difficulties confronted by college students (n=200) seeking to understand the basic processes of cellular respiration. Findings suggest that novices harbor a wide range of conceptual difficulties that constrain their understanding of cellular respiration and many of these conceptual problems…

Presents the Vector Knowledge Test that was designed to see if beginning physics students possess the minimal basic knowledge of vectors that will allow them to proceed with a study of Newtonian mechanics. Concludes that only one-third of the students in a calculus-based introductory course at California Polytechnic had sufficient vector…