Certain misunderstandings in science, mathematics, and computer programing reflect analogous underlying difficulties. These misunderstandings are examined through four knowledge levels: (1) content; (2) problem-solving; (3) epistemic; and (4) inquiry. Analysis of several examples shows that misunderstandings have causes at multiple levels, and…

Examined how task design influences the effectiveness of peer collaboration in facilitating students' conceptual change in physics. Subjects were 8- to 12-year olds studying heating and cooling. Results showed the general superiority of collaborative tasks that both facilitate critical testing and require rules; task designs deploying one feature…

Argues that mathematical learning should be viewed as a process of active individual construction and a process of enculturation into the mathematical practices of wider society. It further argues that the sociocultural perspective theorizes the conditions for the possibility of learning, whereas constructivist perspectives focus on what students…

Examines how problem solving in the domain of Mendelian genetics proceeds in situations where solvers' mental models are insufficient to solve problems at hand (model-revising problem solving). The study addressed the heuristics characteristic of successful model-revising problem solving and other aspects of student model use. (LZ)

Presents an exploratory experience that allows students an opportunity to practice science process skills and use all of their senses. Describes a fruit study activity, appropriate for grades three through six, that incorporates the learning cycle (exploration, concept development, and concept application) and cooperative learning strategies.…

Tracks five-year-old children's ideas by a range of means during and subsequent to a classroom sequence on evaporation. Explores the relationship between social and individual perspectives on learning, and questions some assumptions underlying conceptual change research. Analyzes the children's explanations of various evaporation phenomena over…

Arguing against a concept of learning as only a formal process occurring in explicitly educational settings like schools, the paper proposes a conception of the workplace as a learning environment focusing on the interaction between the affordances and constraints of the social setting, on the one hand, and the agency and biography of the…

Young learners need activities that engage them mentally and physically in processing new information. It is easy to accept such ideas intuitively, but matching the curriculum content to meaningful activities is a challenge. The authors believe that following a learning cycle is a satisfactory way to meet that challenge. A learning cycle is a…

This article describes how the design of digital learning objects can spark professional learning. The challenge was to build learning objects that would help experienced special education teachers, who had been teaching in math classes, to demonstrate their proficiency in middle and secondary school mathematics on the PRAXIS examination. While…

This paper provides a comparative account of two conceptualisations of pleasure. The first draws on Foucault's analysis of bio-power. The second provides a phenomenological account where pleasure is viewed as an aspect of our immediate consciousness. These conceptualisations are illuminated through an analysis of employees' accounts of learning at…

This article is a rejoinder to TM 501 928. (DEP)

Lower class black and lower class white first-grade children learned an unorganized and an organized list of words to test Jensen's hypothesis of racial differences in mental abilities. Both groups of children performed significantly better on the organized list with comparable means for each list. Most of the predicted relationships were not…

Two studies were performed to determine the process used by young children to figure out the meaning of a new word. It was hypothesized that the children would use one of two strategies: (1) ignore the word and wait for more information, or learn only what is unambiguous about it, or (2) make a reasonable but uncertain guess, quickly setting up…

This study investigates how children learn not to overgeneralize about grammatical forms and how to reformulate hypotheses about the grammar of their language even when receiving little or no explicit feedback. Two proposals were looked at: (1) input monitoring theory stating that certain overgeneralizations are eliminated from production because…

Thirty-three second graders participated in a study to discover the value of teaching concepts using picture attribute chunking (PAC). It was hypothesized that PAC would yield superior concept learning performances compared to a picture attribute list (PAL) treatment and a word-alone treatment. The children, selected on the basis of a pretest that…