Reports a research project with the goal of learning about the barriers to promoting higher-order thinking in high school social studies. Compares social studies departments that are successful at promoting higher-order thinking with less successful departments. Describes the technical aspects in the development and use of the 17 observational…

Asserts that children learn best and remember more when they are involved in active learning. Includes two lesson plans in which elementary students create a learning environment. Maintains that students developed a long-term interest in the topics and enjoyed the projects. (CFR)

Argues that videotaped versions of feature films can enhance students' understanding of sociological topics. Describes the use of two films, "The Milagro Beanfield War" and "Roger and Me." Includes two analysis sheets that students complete as an assignment for each film. (CFR)

The Zhu model for analyzing computer mediated communications was further developed by an Athabasca University (Alberta) distance education research team based on ease of use, reliability, validity, theoretical support, and cross-discipline utility. Five classification categories of the new model are vertical questioning, horizontal questioning,…

Describes a framework for computer-aided concept mapping that provides the means to easily trace the learning process. Presents the construction of a concept map as a script which consists of elementary operations. This approach can be applied in presentation tools, in evaluating the learning process, and in computer-aided learning. (Author/AEF)

Reports on a study that examined the response of adult learners, 11 undergraduates, to instructional content presented as hypermedia. Most learners adapted comfortably to the medium, both by imposing "old" learning techniques on it and using new "situated" ones suggested on the tutorial. Their self-evaluation assessed both…

Explains how to transfer a relevant written article into a learning activity involving active role play. Enables the development of critical thinking skills and helps to humanize science by highlighting its importance in everyday life. (DDR)

Considers the extent to which educational computer programs can affect educational results and what their usefulness is in the process of learning physics. Presents experimental research concerning the dependence of the level of students' cognitive activity in learning physics with computer programs, particularly learning by doing in the…

Investigates not only the influence but also the confluence of students' and teacher's understandings of the quality of whole class discussions. Focuses on the communication between students and the teacher in the classroom. Considers the role of tools in both supporting and constraining communication in the classroom. (Author/MM)

Describes an epistemological framework and an associated research method. The framework focuses on the structural relations of individual and setting as experienced by the individual. The analysis consists in zooming to identify patterns that simultaneously occur at multiple levels. Uses data from a physics classroom where students learn to…

Suggests that the study of memory needs to be situated within broader conceptual and research contexts. Examines how four contexts accommodate memory phenomena: (1) knowledge; (2) comprehension; (3) context/function; and (4) strategy. Suggests that memories are best examined as knowledge structures resulting from efforts to understand, and that…

Describes the use of an intervention stressing the metacognitive, regulatory, and strategic aspects of knowledge co-construction. Finds that eighth grade students who received the intervention gained in metacognitive knowledge about collaborative reasoning and ability to articulate their collaborative reasoning processes compared to students in…

Explores whether construction of integrated knowledge structures by students can be stimulated by concept mapping and better visualization of concepts and their interrelationships. Significant effects of concept mapping as an instructional method could not be detected. (Contains 18 references.) (DDR)

This paper summarizes the results of an investigation into whether women and men have different (concrete and abstract) styles of programming, and whether the standard computing curriculum is therefore biased against women. The theory underpinning the hypothesis is critically reviewed in practical programming contexts. A concrete means of testing…

This experimental study explores how 60 primary-age children's (9-11 years old) understanding of rocks was effected by instruction that used the conceptual structure of the rock cycle together with the analogy of aluminium can recycling. Using a combination of probes into children's understanding, including concept maps and semi-structured…