This study explored and documented Taiwanese students' alternative conceptions of animal classification. We examined the understanding of the "animal", "vertebrate" and "invertebrate", "fish", "amphibian", "reptile", "bird", and "mammal" concepts among elementary,…

This study evaluates the efficacy of Keepin' It Safe, a theory-based, gender-specific, CD-ROM-mediated HIV prevention program for urban, early adolescent girls. Intervention effects were examined in a randomized, pretest-posttest wait-list control-group design. Changes in HIV/AIDS knowledge, protective attitudes, and skills for reducing HIV…

A study focused on children's alphabet knowledge and name writing ability to investigate between-group differences. Subjects were 22 children (mean age 57 months) in a private preschool located in a suburban, predominantly upper-middle income area and 12 children (mean age 56 months) in a private, subsidized day care center situated in a…

A study analyzed the prior knowledge state of two university populations: students at the Open University (OU) of the Netherlands and students at the University of Limburg (UL). Analysis of the prior knowledge state was based on an extensive analysis of the literature in relation to theories, models, and practice-based strategies about the…

The constant comparative method of B. G. Glaser and A. L. Strauss (1967) of qualitative data analysis is illustrated using data from a study that investigated the knowledge and beliefs of four preservice secondary school mathematics teachers. Data sources included interviews, observations, a written instrument, and artifacts. Data analysis…

Whether boys and girls perform differently on mathematics estimation items with a picture format (applied context [AC] items) compared with items with a numbers-only (NC) format was studied when effects of computational skill, conceptual knowledge, and quantitative ability were controlled. Subjects were approximately 80,000 students from grades 4…

This paper compares the mathematical understandings and pedagogical content knowledge of beginning teachers entering teaching through an alternate route program with those entering from three standard teacher education programs. The analysis challenges two common assumptions about becoming a secondary school mathematics teacher: (1) that people…

The pamphlet reviews cognitive and developmental psychology research in which skilled and less skilled performance patterns and mechanisms have been compared. Knowledge has been described, in theory, in terms of an associative network in which concepts are represented as the nodes of the net, and relations between concepts serve as associative…

Research studied the effectiveness of class lecture as compared to telelecture, and the association between amount learned and the personal and situational factors of age, level of education, time of day, and attitude. Pretests and posttests collected level of knowledge and personal information from 71 women during a short course on Money…

Questionnaire responses of college students revealed that those pursuing modern language or linguistic degrees (N=63) were significantly more aware and knowledgeable of traditional grammar than were students pursuing other degrees (N=175), although many had studied a foreign language at the secondary school or college level. (CB)

Indicates that textbook explication alone of causes of events is insufficient for acquisition and use of hierarchically organized knowledge; students must be taught how to construct text-based information into hierarchically structured form and use it for making predictions. (FL)

To reduce test anxiety, students were given increased information about the probable question types on end-of-unit examinations. Two experimental testing formats, a combination of the two, and the typical practice of providing no additional information were compared. Results show that additional information can reduce anxiety but not necessarily…

Two groups of parents received behavioral skill training designed to modify child noncompliance. One group also received formal training in social learning principles. Results indicated that the group receiving social learning principles tended to perceive their children as better adjusted and tended to be more satisfied with treatment. (Author)

A study compared performance on the Area Concentration Achievement Test in Social Work (ACAT) of 32 undergraduates who had nearly completed a field practicum and 38 who had not begun it. Results showed no difference in the groups' knowledge of social work professional foundation overall or in individual content areas. Other variables that could…

Two studies with 170 third-, 303 fifth-, and 288 seventh-graders in Heidelberg (West Germany) compared memory performance and text comprehension of groups equivalent on domain-specific knowledge of the game of soccer but differing in overall aptitude. Whether prior knowledge or overall aptitude level was more important in acquiring/using new…