The headmistress of an English school in India explains how a group of eight year olds responded to finding a "ghost" in a tree in the school courtyard. First-hand observation, exploration, and hard evidence led students to a more objective interpretation of the elusive tree spirit. (MLH)

Dispels some discouraging myths about authentic learning's context, mastery, originality, entertainment value, and task complexity. The main point is to let students encounter and master situations that resemble real life, which has its tedious and unengaging moments. Educators should work toward more (rather than complete) authenticity, exploit…

Children form their own ideas, which become their beliefs based on their experiences. The misconceptions prevailing within children are stated with the measures to guide them to examine their ideas.

Educators must realize that, in Japan, authentic learning means mastery of memorized information, not experiential learning and independent reasoning in preparation for life. Although many Japanese can recite long strings of facts, few can answer "why,""how,""what if," and "what do you think" questions about…

Students use their preschool experiences to form personal theories about the world and rarely correct misconceptions even when new information is presented. This article describes an elementary science teacher's efforts to help fifth and sixth graders revise personal electricity theories, based on experimentation. There is no simple way to…