Cognitive development research can be applied to the learning of a second language, resulting in a view of language learning as the acquisition and development of expertise. From this framework, two processes are viewed from within this framework for learners of English: learning vocabulary and learning discourse and story. (Contains 10…

Presents the use of manipulatives in the three stages of concept learning called concrete, bridging, and symbolic. Examines the three stages in developing the concept of rounding two-digit numbers. (MDH)

Report provides new data concerning children's accuracy as measured by previous studies and clarifies progress of first graders during entire year on difficult single-digit addition and subtraction problems. Discussion focuses on advantages of an adding on interpretation of subtraction and the importance of emphasizing conceptual understanding…

Discussed is the type of evidence children find to be convincing using either empirical or deductive methods to justify propositions which they consider to be true. Included are the problem, research design, and the conclusion. (KR)

This paper presents a theoretical framework for investigating the role of algorithms in mathematical thinking using a combined ontological-psychological outlook. The intent is to demonstrate that the processes of learning and of problem solving incorporate an elaborate interplay between operational and structural conceptualizations of the same…

Describes the psychological analysis of the instruction of the concept of multiplication in the former Soviet Union. Presents a system of instructional situations in introducing multiplication and the main results of instruction for grade two. (MDH)

A 7-month longitudinal study of 20 2- and 3-year-old children shows that children at an early age already know that counting words each refer to a distinct numerosity, although they do not know to which numerosity. It takes children a long time to learn the latter. (SLD)

Discussed is an alternative teaching strategy to uncover and assess a common misconception in the life sciences and to articulate its use in teaching a unit on angiosperm reproduction. The learning cycle is described, and a concept map on reproduction on angiosperms is included. (KR)

Reports an experimental study of 80 ninth grade biology students randomly assigned to treatment and control groups to determine whether the use of human examples in instructional strategies on Mendelian genetics increases acquisition and retention of genetics concepts. Results indicate that use of human examples in contrast to traditional examples…

Analyzes how practice in mathematics education might be reformed toward a professional practice. Argues that conventional school mathematics be replaced by a constructivist school mathematics based on children's use of their schemes of actions and operations in learning situations as illustrated through examples of the numerical schemes of…

Describes a theoretical frame for understanding cognitive development to outline the planning and performance of a unit on electrostatics. Analyzes a female student's learning process and the development of the complexity of her cognitive skills. (PR)

The main thesis of the paper is that geometry deals with mental entities (the so-called geometrical figures) which possess simultaneously conceptual and figural characters. The paper analyzes the internal tensions which may arise in figural concepts because of their double nature, developmental aspects, and didactical implications. (Author/MDH)

This study compared the development (at 40 months) of 40 deaf and hard-of-hearing infants whose hearing loss was identified either before 6 months or after 18 months. Infants whose hearing loss was identified earlier scored significantly on tests of expressive language and comprehension/concepts. Results support early hearing screening for…

Describes the MAOF physics education program which is designed to relate large parts of mechanics and electromagnetism to each other via the key concepts of field and potential, while at the same time treat students' conceptual difficulties. Finds that students who studied with the MAOF program significantly improved their physics knowledge…

Examines the development of children's understanding of the difference between "want" and "need" in two different experiments. The first experiment required the children to respond verbally in choosing between the two concepts; the second required them to give an object to one of two characters who had made a request using…