Evaluating students' cognitive understanding of core concepts and identifying learning path aligned with their cognitive developmental patterns are critical for enhancing conceptual mastery in chemistry. This study employed the Rule Space Model to investigate students' cognitive characteristics and learning path in comprehending the conceptual…

Respondents' problem-solving behaviors comprise behaviors that represent complicated cognitive processes that are frequently systematically tied to one another. Biometric data, such as visual fixation counts (FCs), which are an important eye-tracking indicator, can be combined with other types of variables that reflect different aspects of…

The redox reaction is a core concept of upper-secondary school chemistry curriculum. Accurate diagnosis of students' conceptual understanding of the redox reaction from a cognitive structure perspective is critical for enhancing their understanding of chemical concepts. This study utilized Bayesian networks to investigate the cognitive structures…

Cognitive diagnosis models (CDMs) have been developed to evaluate the mastery status of individuals with respect to a set of defined attributes or skills that are measured through testing. When individuals are repeatedly administered a cognitive diagnosis test, a new class of multilevel CDMs is required to assess the changes in their attributes…

Cognitive scientists investigate mental models (how humans organize and structure knowledge in their minds) so as to understand human understanding of and interactions with the world. Cognitive and mental model research is concerned with internal conceptual systems that are not easily or directly observable. The goal of this research was to…

Mental models are basic cognitive constructs that are central for understanding phenomena of the world and predicting future events. Our comparison of two analysis approaches, SMD and QFCA, for measuring externalized mental models reveals different levels of abstraction and different perspectives. The advantages of the SMD include possibilities…

This study explored the phenomenon of testing effect during science concept assessments, including the mechanism behind it and its impact upon a learner's conceptual understanding. The participants consisted of 208 high school students, in either the 11th or 12th grade. Three types of tests (traditional multiple-choice test, correct concept test,…

This study compared pattern notes generated by participants with word association hierarchies, which is the best current measure of cognitive structure, in order to investigate whether pattern notes could be used for cognitive mapping. The participants were 24 high school physics students. Results are interpreted and discussed. (Author/MT)

Three experiments investigated the developmental progression of reliance on object function versus object shape to extend novel words among 3- and 5-year olds and adults. Findings indicated that children focused on shape, whereas adults focused on function when extending novel words, suggesting a developmental change in the consideration of these…

To better determine the cognitive abilities needed for computer programming, a study was done using 41 junior and senior level college students majoring in social and behavioral sciences at a Los Angeles area university. The subjects were first tested to determine their cognitive abilities with regard to spatial ability, field…

New methods for representing the structural properties of domain-specific knowledge were studied. Network representations of data from 40 college students' ratings of the relatedness of domain concepts were derived using the Pathfinder scaling algorithm, and similarity between students' and instructor's networks was then assessed using a…

Investigated the emergence of class and propositional reasoning skills as a function of the developing ability to coordinate increasingly complex negation and affirmation operations with children from grades 1, 3, 5, and 7. Found that children's reasoning follows a logical development sequence and that different groups of items account for…

This paper discusses questions pertinent to a definition of cognitive structure as the knowledge one possesses and the manner in which it is arranged, and considers how to select or devise methods of describing cognitive structure. The main purpose in describing cognitive structure is to see whether differences in memory (or cognitive structure)…

Presents a study to determine students' concept of slope carried out in three classes of the second form before introducing the notion of derivative. Discusses the meaning of conceptual framework and reviews literature on slope. Analyzes student responses to a questionnaire for mathematical content and expression and interprets the results. (MDH)

The conceptions of information needs of seven American and seven Swedish mechanics employed by a Swedish multinational machine industry are compared by using perspective text analysis to analyze their verbal responses to three open-ended questions concerning their need for work-related information. The structures embedded in the texts are…