This paper supports the position that Piaget's theory (including both structural and functional components), methods, and empirical data have a central role to play in the development of an effective, comprehensive pedagogy. A structural-developmental theory coordinates the teacher's knowledge of curriculum with knowledge of cognitive demands…

This paper discusses a concept-based approach to teaching secondary geography. It is intended to help teachers in Australia write suitable geography programs and adopt teaching practices appropriate to the 1980s. A useful way to understand "concept" is to put the idea in a context with the definitions of other words such as fact,…

This paper reports on an experiment undertaken to delineate more clearly the relationship between the naming process in children and certain aspects of the environment which may play a role in that process. The investigation concerned the effect of manipulation and of object novelty on naming. Sixteen children, ten girls and six boys, ranging in…

Two kinds of research groups have evolved in higher education: one devoted to student learning and the other to teacher training. Both groups share a common interest in the development of student thinking and appear to be proceeding along parallel paths, which may be to their disadvantage. At the same time, some researchers in teacher training are…

This handbook was prepared for use in any classroom to aid the student in understanding how to become a better learner and how to learn meaningfully. This program is based on Ausubel's cognitive learning theory which places emphasis on the differences between meaningful learning and rote learning. To acquire knowledge meaningfully means that the…

THREE- AND 4-YEAR-OLDS WERE GIVEN VERBAL LEARNING PRETRAINING TO DETERMINE ITS EFFECT UPON THE PERFORMANCE OF REVERSAL AND NONREVERSAL SHIFT DISCRIMINATION TASKS. THE EXPERIMENTAL TASK WAS THE CLASSICAL REVERSAL-NONREVERSAL SHIFT PARADIGM. THE 96 PRE-SCHOOLERS, PRIMARILY FROM THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY NURSERY SCHOOL, WERE DIVIDED INTO 4…

TO STUDY WHICH OF SEVERAL CONDITIONS PROMOTES EFFICIENT CONCEPT LEARNING, AN EXPERIMENT INVOLVING 2 CONDITIONS, METHOD OF PRESENTATION OF STIMULI AND RATIO OF POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE STIMULI, WAS ADMINISTERED TO 80 SECOND-GRADE CHILDREN. THE CHILDREN WERE DIVIDED INTO 8 TREATMENT GROUPS. THESE 8 GROUPS WERE FORMED BY VARYING THE 2 METHODS OF…

TWO STUDIES DEAL WITH THE THOUGHT PROCESSES CHILDREN DISPLAY WHEN FACED WITH PROBLEMS INVOLVING THE CONCEPTS OF QUANTITY AND NUMBER. INVOLVING CHILDREN IN KINDERGARTEN, FIRST GRADE AND SECOND GRADE, THE STUDIES USE PIAGET'S THEORIES IN BOTH A CROSS-SECTIONAL AND A LONGITUDINAL APPROACH TO STUDY CHILDREN'S THINKING IN AN EDUCATIONAL SETTING. TO…

CONCEPT FORMATION IN 50 KINDERGARTENERS WAS STUDIED BY REQUIRING THE CHILDREN TO SORT CARDS ACCORDING TO ONE OF FOUR ATTRIBUTES OF THREE DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS. THE OBJECTIVE WAS TO EXPLORE THE VALIDITY AND LIMITATIONS OF AN ALL-OR-NONE LEARNING MODEL FOR COMPLEX CLASSIFYING RESPONSES. INFORMATION WAS PRESENTED TO THE SUBJECT BY TWO POSITIVE…

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EDUCATIONAL FACTORS INVOLVED IN THE TRANSFER OF TRAINING WERE STUDIED BY USE OF PROGRAMED SELF-INSTRUCTION USING TEACHING MACHINES. THIS MEDIUM WAS CHOSEN BECAUSE IT PROVIDES LABORATORY-LIKE CONDITIONS SUCH AS STABILIZED METHODS, AND STIMULUS CONTROL INCLUDING CONTROL OF TEACHER PERSONALITY, PLUS A STEP-BY-STEP RECORD OF THE…

THIS SUPPLEMENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY LISTS MATERIALS ON VARIOUS FACETS OF HUMAN LEARNING. APPROXIMATELY 60 UNANNOTATED REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED FOR DOCUMENTS DATING FROM 1954 TO 1966. JOURNAL ARTICLES, BOOKS, RESEARCH REPORTS, AND CONFERENCE PAPERS ARE LISTED. SOME SUBJECT AREAS INCLUDED ARE (1) LEARNING PARAMETERS AND ABILITY, (2) RETENTION AND…

The contributions of psychology, theoretically and experimentally, to university teaching are examined from the perspective of educational epistemology. The most basic theoretical contribution that psychology has made to cognitive learning has been the delineation of a unit of thinking, the concept, which acts as an organizer of experience. The…

This study investigated developmental differences in the use of the common features abstraction strategy and the exemplar learning strategy for concept acquisition. Subjects were 30 second graders and 30 fifth graders. The concepts to be learned were two categories of artificial animals which differed on five dimensions. Each dimension had three…

PIAGET HAS BEEN CONCERNED WITH THE ASSESSMENT OF THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF CONSERVATION AND RELATED PROCESSES, BUT HE HAS NOT FOCUSED EXPERIMENTALLY ON THE FACTORS WHICH CAN ACCOUNT FOR THE LEARNING OF CONSERVATION. TO INVESTIGATE SUCH FACTORS, RESEARCH WAS CONDUCTED (1) TO DETERMINE THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF TWO PARTICULAR GROUP TRAINING…

A STUDY, IN PROGRESS, IS ATTEMPTING TO DETERMINE THE INTERACTION OF VARIOUS REWARD CONDITIONS AND VARIOUS TYPES OF PRESCHOOL EXPERIENCE WITH DISCRIMINATION LEARNING. THE SUBJECTS ARE 240 4- AND 5-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN WITH THREE TYPES OF PRESCHOOL EXPERIENCE--1 TO 3 MONTHS OF HEAD START, 10 TO 12 MONTHS OF HEAD START, AND NO ATTENDANCE IN A PRESCHOOL…