College campuses have become rich sites of hip-hop culture and knowledge production. Despite the attention that campus personnel and researchers have paid to student life, the field of higher education has often misunderstood the ways that hip-hop culture exists in college students' lives. Based upon in-depth interviews, observations of…

This study examined the links students are able to make between formal expressions and situations to which they might refer. Students' understanding of a basic set of transformational rules in elementary algebra sign changes in addition and subtraction expressions with parentheses was assessed, exploring: (1) informal intuitive understanding of…

The methodological issue of qualitative versus quantitative research is addressed, and the argumentation of research using interview methods for research is explored. Warrants of the type that are used in arguments generating conclusions from interview data are included. (KR)

Describes the construction of a knowledge representation from the identification of the problem (nephrotic syndrome) to a running computer simulation of causal reasoning to provide a vertical slice of the construction of a cognitive model. Interactions between textbook knowledge, observations of human experts, and computational requirements are…

Using a paper-and-pencil test consisting of multiple-choice situational questions which also require reasoning for the choices made, common misconceptions in light were identified. It was found that most of the students understand the basic properties of light at a knowledge level but had difficulty applying these concepts in novel situations.…

This report is a pilot effort to understand how knowledge imformation is effectively imparted in a classroom. The work is built on a study of the cognitions of effective teaching. Expert teachers were identified by monitoring the gain scores of students in classrooms over a 5-year period. All teachers were interviewed, observed, and videotaped…

In an attempt to find out more about how creative people engage in thinking, more than 50 men and women considered to be prominant in the humanities, the arts, and the sciences were interviewed. Letters, diaries and autobiographies of other creative individuals were examined in an effort to provide a broad base for studying the psychology of…

The ideas and techniques involved in learning about fractions were investigated with students in grades 1-12, in the first 3 years of colleges, in community college mathematics courses, and in graduate school. Also included were some high school mathematics teachers, some mathematicians, and some retired persons. Part I provides the rationale and…

This study, part of a longitudinal investigation, examined the kinds of thinking which children aged 10 and 11 could carry over from Logo instruction to an algebraic context. Interviews focused on their ability to construct meaningful symbolization for the concept of variable and to construct formalized algebraic rules. (MNS)

According to researchers, the principal's leadership and the perceptions of the school staff are important in effective schools. A method for uncovering personal perceptions called ethnographic semantics is described. Findings from a study in which this methodology was used are presented. Includes three tables and two figures. (MD)

The consistency, if any, with which force concepts are used by individual students in different, but closely related, contexts was investigated. A total of 534 university and high school students were tested to elicit their beliefs about the forces acting on various objects. Students' beliefs about the forces acting on objects at rest and in…

This exploratory study describes fourth-grade students' opinions and knowledge about fractions. A coherent and elaborate fraction knowledge base results when students establish connections between their conceptual knowledge and procedural knowledge of fractions. One possible juncture between concepts and procedures might involve establishing…

Fourth-grade students' understanding of the order and equivalence of rational numbers was investigated in 132 interviews during an 18-week teaching experiment. Six children were instructed individually and as a group at two sites, with instruction relying heavily on manipulative aids. Strategies used to compare fractions were identified. (MNS)

Reports a study designed to identify 9 and 11 year olds' ways of drawing nets of solids and to provide opportunities for them to reflect on their models in whole class discussions. Results indicated that children's views of solids' nets progressed from more global and holistic to more quantitative and analytic. (MDH)

Reviews recent research in the area of mathematical understanding and compares and contrasts it with a model formulated for the growth of understanding. Uses the analysis of a transcript from an interview with an eight-year-old boy to illustrate the power of the model to describe and map the growth of his mathematical understanding. (18…