Reviews a special issue of The Journal of Research in Science Teaching dedicated to concept mapping. Describes four ways in which concept mapping can be of value in science education: (1) as a learning strategy, (2) as an instructional strategy, (3) as a tool in the instructional design process, and (4) as a means of assessing a student's…

Endorses concept mapping as the way to achieve the most meaningful learning. In concept mapping, concepts are organized according to their hierarchical relationships. Concept-mapping skills can help to organize and integrate information, assess existing knowledge, gain more insight into all knowledge, and relate basic science concepts to the…

At the dawning of the 21st century, the term "social justice" is appearing in numerous public texts and discourses throughout the field of education. However, and as Gewirtz argued in 1998, the conceptual underpinnings of this catchphrase frequently remain tacit or underexplored. This article elaborates Gewirtz's earlier…

This information sheet examines three areas: (1) what research tells about problem-solving in chemistry; (2) why students have such difficulty in solving chemistry problems; and (3) if there are some ways of teaching students to solve problems that are more effective than others. From several research studies on problem-solving in chemistry, it is…

The article presents empirical evidence for the effectiveness and efficiency of a modified version of Trochim's (1989a, b) concept mapping approach to define the characteristics of an adaptive learning environment. The effectiveness and the efficiency of the method are attributed to the support that it provides in terms of elicitation, sharing,…

Research on notetaking as a learning strategy and on the related techniques of outlining and concept mapping is reviewed. The effectiveness of these techniques in helping the learner encode new information and their usefulness in interactive multimedia instruction are explored. Research strongly supports an external-storage function of notetaking…

This paper provides a brief review of research on concept mapping in biology at the college level that has addressed the issues of "conceptual transparency" and "learner friendliness." For many college students, biology is "conceptually opaque." Students may memorize the characteristics of a plant, but find it difficult to identify that plant in…

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of navigation tools and computer confidence within a hypermedia environment. Twelve course sections containing 354 undergraduate college students were blocked by ability and randomly assigned to an embedded hyperlink group, a content list group, or a concept map group. Results indicated that…

Reviews research findings that indicate students learn more and produce better research products following planned, integrated information skills instruction by the teacher and teacher-librarian together. Topics include the search process, search strategies, concept mapping, integrated resource-based instruction, and the need for formal planning.…

The first of two linked articles discusses leadership and associated concepts. Outlines and illustrates a mapping typology built around five knowledge domains (conceptual, critical, humanist, evaluative, and instrumental) and seven factors (purpose, focus, context, method, audience, communication, and impact). (Contains 9 notes and 93 references.)…

The cognitive revolution began in the 1950s as researchers began to move away from the study of knowledge acquisition and behaviorism to the study of information and the way it is processed. Four factors are discussed in chapter 1 as contributing to the increase in popularity of the "cognitive revolution" (increasing enthusiasm for the…

Contemporary assessment practices in science education have undergone significant changes in recent decades. The basis for these changes and the resulting new assessment practices are the subject of this two-part paper. Part 1 considers the basis of assessment that, more than 25 years ago, was driven by the assumptions of decomposability and…

Over the past 25 years there has been an increasing and worldwide research interest in music education, embracing a range of disciplines and perspectives. As well as particular research foci on the nature of curricula, musical behaviour and development, new research literatures have been developed that link music education with ethnomusicology,…

This meta-analysis reviews experimental and quasi-experimental studies in which students learned by constructing, modifying, or viewing node-link diagrams. Following an exhaustive search for studies meeting specified design criteria, 67 standardized mean difference effect sizes were extracted from 55 studies involving 5,818 participants. Students…

Describes two metacognitive tools, concept mapping and Vee diagraming, and reports on classroom research utilizing these tools in grade one through university instruction. Psychological and epistemological foundations of these tools are discussed, and student attitude changes after using these tools are reported. (64 references) (LRW)