Discourse and conversational analysis methods were used in a qualitative reconstruction of one aspect of the regularities in the way 61 children "do" personal reference. Of particular interest was the development of two reference forms: minimization--preference for simple (one word) forms, or recipient design--reference forms indicating…

A multiple-group, single-intervention intensive time-series design was used to examine the achievement of an abstract concept, plate tectonics, of students grouped on the basis of cognitive tendency. Two questions were addressed: (1) How do daily achievement patterns differ between formal and concrete cognitive tendency groups when learning an…

The Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT) instrument has been widely used to gather cross-cultural data regarding the acquisition of logical thinking skills in adolescent children. This study of West German adolescents using the instrument adds further comparative data regarding the development of logical thinking skills. Additional data…

The fields of science education and science studies and their respective academic communities, while appearing to have many potential points of contact, remain surprisingly separate, with little apparent recognition of the relevance to the interests of each to work done within the other traditions. As a field of study science education deals with…

A cognitive gap between students' development and school curriculum may be one of the reasons why chemistry is difficult for high school students. This study examined cognitive development in the effect of modified instructional methods for students at the concrete stage of development. The Arlin Test of Formal Reasoning (ATFR) was used for…

To whet the curiosity and interest of teachers who may be frustrated with the reading vocabulary achievement of pupils, an informal study compared Piaget's cognitive development theory, recent brain research, and the reading process, and examined how the theory and research apply to reading instruction. The Gestalt Process Approach to teaching…

This report presents a general framework for studying the acquisition and cognitive representation of biomedical concepts and analyzing the nature and development of misconceptions. The central approach of the report is a selective and highly concentrated analysis of the true nature of clusters of complex concepts and the manner in which they are…

Over the past several years, one study after another has uncovered a positive relationship between interpersonal interaction and individual achievement. According to a handful of these studies, interaction is more effective than are individually-based strategies for promoting reasoning. We give our attention here to the link that possibly exists…

The current study was devised to determine the short-term (1 month) and long-term (4 months) effects of having students generate their own examples of selected concepts. More specifically, focus was on determining how self-generated examples might enhance the learning and retrieval of concepts. Subjects were 55 (54 female and 1 male) undergraduate…

This document suggests ways of using children's intuitive ideas about mathematics as a starting point for an elementary curriculum. Ways are discussed to capitalize on what children already know: to cultivate rather than discourage students' intuitive mathematical sense, and to help students make connections between what they know and what they…

The five papers in this symposium contribute to a dialog on the aims and methods of computer education, and indicate directions future research must take if necessary information is to be available to make informed decisions about the use of computers in schools. The first two papers address the question of what is required for a student to become…

In order to prescribe instructional strategies that match individual learning styles, a study examined the relationships among students' gender, communication avoidance behavior, and classroom achievement. Additionally, the study investigated the relationship of the instructor's gender to the student's perception of instructor immediacy and the…

This paper posits a cognitive model for understanding and learning physics that is an alternative to the formal deductive system. Recent findings of Fuller, Karplus, Lawson, and others are cited in arguing against using a formal deductive approach to teaching physics. The model demonstrates types of action-oriented knowledge structures as they…

A study investigated what is done with reading in kindergarten, specifically: (1) what is done and for what amount of time to prepare kindergartners for reading and to teach them to read; (2) what accounts for what is or is not done; and (3) how differences in children's abilities affect what is or is not done. Forty-two kindergarten classes from…

This paper describes an innovative program for teaching self-management to children in elementary and secondary schools. The background of techniques for teaching self-management is briefly reviewed, the application of self-management techniques is noted, deficits in self-management programs are considered, and Lazarus's multimodal model of…