Focuses on the conceptual understanding held by (n=78) preservice elementary teachers about moon phases before and after instruction. Compares instructive effect between two groups--inquiry-based physics instruction and no instruction. Reports that without the instruction, most preservice teachers were likely to hold alternative conceptions of the…

Examines third-grade students' ideas on the lunar phases prior to, and following, an instructional period designed to promote students' conceptual change. Demonstrates that students are capable of making conceptual changes. Contains 30 references. (DDR)

Examines how teachers, students, and scientists construct ways of investigating and knowing science. Identifies ways that particular teaching strategies provide opportunities for student engagement. (Author/CCM)

Reports on a replication study to determine the relative effectiveness of two methods of instruction in teaching classificatory concepts and to determine whether maturity of children was related to level of understanding. (GS)

A group of third graders trained in the proportional reasoning associated with converting distance and elapsed time into speed scored significantly higher on an immediate retention test than the control group (no instruction), but there was no difference between groups on a delayed retention test. (MLH)

Examines strategies used by first grade children in performing a seriation task, using materials varying in length or weight. Most first-grade children employed a concept-task-strategy in serially ordering objects by length and weight. In addition Piaget's observation that length can be serially ordered before weight was upheld. (CP)

Reports results of a study to assess ability of children from different age groups (N=144) to generalize two hierarchically related concepts (Insect and Animal) with and without instruction in the form of a mental set. Also examined effects of age, I.Q., and sex on ability to generalize these concepts. (Author/JN)

Explores how third- and fourth-grade children (N=24) make sense of a scientific procedure introduced to them which they had used before in their own experimental inquires. Findings provide a picture of the complexity of understandings in this simple process. Contains 42 references. (DDR)

Thirty fifth-grade students participated in a study designed to describe the social interactions of ability-grouped dyads as they construct knowledge of balance concepts to elucidate the relationship between interactions and conceptual growth. Results revealed that high achieving students effectively used prior experiences and maintained focus on…

A sample of 43 second grade pupils was divided into groups which performed classificatory tasks with value labels, attribute labels, or a combination of these. Results showed that the value labeling improved the students' classificatory skills and increased the students' ability to generalize classificatory skill on far transfer tests. (MLH)

Examines the effect of relevant group instruction on various children's developmental stages regarding the conception of space. (Author/GA)

Reports on a study in which clinical interviews were conducted with three elementary school children to determine the extent to which they held naive misconceptions about important biological topics, and to determine agewise trends in the development of biological knowledge. (TW)

Investigated level of concept attainment of selected energy concepts for possible inclusion in the Nigerian Primary Science Project. Subjects (N=450) were taught energy concepts at descriptive, comparative, and quantitative levels. Suggests the need to describe these levels for particular grades and match curriculum with students' thinking…

Examines the influence of gender, reading level of student, and source of data on science concept formation and retention. Results indicate that reading level of students does influence science concept formation and retention, but gender and source of data (method of instruction) do not. (MA)

Discusses children's ideas about colored objects and colored shadows, with special attention to the organization of these ideas into mental models. The clarification of these models provides instructional tools that serve to assess and confront students' naive conceptions. Subjects were visitors to a science museum who engaged in interactive…