Examines students' use of higher-order thinking as they use an interactive multimedia program based on a situated learning framework. Analysis of types of talk used by students working with the program shows the majority of their thinking was higher-order. Findings suggest such a program can provide a learning environment capable of supporting and…

Argues for an expanded role for the concept of emergent levels in science education. Cites confusion of levels and slippage between levels as the source of many people's misunderstandings about patterns and phenomena. Contains 35 references. (DDR)

Discusses overall mental computation achievement and limits discussion to strategies middle school students used when computing with whole numbers, decimals, and fractions. Suggests that the development of conceptual knowledge of numbers is an important prerequisite for the understanding of mental computation procedures. (Contains 31 references.)…

Describes situated cognition, Vygotskian thought, the Zone of Proximal Development, and learning from the community of practice perspective. Conceptualizes learning principles for instructional design of Web-based electronic learning environments, including situatedness, commonality, interdependency, and infrastructure that includes…

The steps of a task analysis research program designed to identify the in-session performances involved in resolving lingering bad feelings toward a significant other are described. A rational-empirical methodology of repeatedly cycling between rational conjecture and empirical observations is demonstrated as a method of developing an intervention…

Discusses affective behaviors as complex sets of mental processes and actions that are affected by current context, past learning, and present need state. Highlights include motivation, emotion, and cognition; relationships between the affective and cognitive domain; and ways to achieve desired affective outcomes. (LRW)

Explored the differential application of a self-regulatory strategy on mathematics performance among three eighth-graders with learning disabilities and diverse planning abilities. Found that all students improved on fraction probes as a function of using a cue card strategy. The student with high planning ability demonstrated consistent…

Considers individual students' progress as they use tools, discuss data distributions, and interact with teachers and their peers. Suggests that data display tools provide a partial context for discussions but do not constrain the students' interpretations or the way they reason about the data. (Author/MM)

An interview with Edwin S. Ellis, an expert on cognitive-based interventions and curriculum for students with learning disabilities (LD) focuses on the roots of his interest in strategic learning, the teacher's role in effective schooling, the need to go beyond labels, knowledge elaboration in learning, effective learning strategies for adolescent…

Describes a methodology for analyzing the collective learning of the classroom community in terms of the evolution of classroom mathematical practices. In developing the rationale for this approach, grounds the discussion in work of mathematics educators who conduct classroom-based design research. Frames sample analysis as a paradigm case in…

Presents research in which mathematics teachers and educational researchers ordered arithmetic and algebra problems according to their predicted problem-solving difficulty for students. Analysis of students' problem-solving strategies indicates specific ways that students' algebraic reasoning differs from that predicted by most teachers and…

Proposes that conceptual change is constrained by the child's conceptual structures and the structures inherent in problem-solving tasks. Uses a microgenetic case study and group data to examine how interaction between strategies children bring to a task and the detailed task structure redirect children's attention and create the possibility of…

Examined how student's strategies and associated conceptions emerged and changed over a 6-session tutoring curriculum designed to develop conceptual knowledge of linear functions. Found that the student did not erase his original conception or replace it with a conception supported by instruction, but instead refined his initial strategies and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the connection between sixth graders' cognitive tool use and the cognitive processes they engage in as they solve a complex problem in a hypermedia learning environment. The three research questions were: (1) Which cognitive tools are used for which cognitive processes? (2) Is there a relationship between…

Theories of epistemological beliefs focus on individuals' perceptions about what knowledge is and where knowledge comes from. These beliefs are part of, and may in fact direct, the cognitive processes involved in learning. Research stemming from these theories offers varied explanations as to how beliefs relate to student learning and academic…