Experiential learning, which emphasizes gaining new skills, knowledge, and perspectives through experiences, has become one of the most influential models for transforming students' learning and development in a variety of contexts from academic settings to workplace training programs. The current body of research on the assessment of experiential…

The need to develop an integrative readiness of future specialists is a relevant scientific problem. The reasons for this could be based on the fact that that the specialists-to-be were expected to be involved in the fierce competition for vacancies and areas of activity, have modern information and communication tools, i.e. have an integrative…

Bias is part of the human condition and becoming aware of how to avoid bias will help to ensure greater accuracy in the work of assessment. In this paper the authors discuss three different theoretical frameworks that can be applied when assessing student work for cognitive skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. Each of the…

Inclusive education remains a significant challenge in today's educational landscape, as K-12 classrooms and higher education institutions struggle to meet the diverse needs of all students. To address this pressing issue, "Developing Inclusive Environments in Education: Global Practices and Curricula," led by Kiyoji Koreeda, offers…

Discusses a study of writing revision in which all the writing done in two sections of a writing course was collected and draft-to-draft revisions were studied. Suggests that revision depends as much on acquisition of topical knowledge as on level of cognitive development. (SR)

In an effort to increase the quality and quantity of service-learning assessment, this article provides a brief rationale for engaging in service-learning assessment and reviews a selection of available tools for doing so. The paper includes a matrix that lists cognitive outcomes, including critical thinking and problem solving, and the…

Word association techniques were used to examine the growth of biological knowledge over a period of years, from fourth-grade to college students. Results were analyzed by classifying stimulus-response word pairs according to the nature of the relationship between the words in each pair. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) the proportion of enactive…

An overview of the research on the cognitive effects of higher education is presented. It is suggested that studies exist on three levels: (1) measurement of the increment of specific factual knowledge; (2) understanding the basic concepts in a certain area, studied by qualitative analysis; and (3) the development of awareness of the nature of…

Questionnaire results indicate that, although first-year, undergraduate science students (n=109) recognize the correct sources of energy for organisms, they simultaneously hold misconceptions about other essential, but nonenergy-supplying, conditions as sources of energy supply. Occurrence rates for these misconceptions vary with the students'…

Many science educators are concerned with students' ability to understand science as a process and with their conceptions of scientific knowledge. Preliminary work has shown that the use of a model organizer can result in student perceptions of improved understanding, but the reason for this effect is not known. This research was undertaken to…

Focuses on four major theories and models of undergraduates' epistemological development. Proposes a theoretical framework for undergraduates' information seeking behavior based on insights into their knowledge construction offered through these models and theories. (Contains 60 references.)(AEF)

The nature of professional expertise has been widely debated in the literature. However it has been examined primarily from a dichotomy of perspectives--either from an experiential or a cognitive focus, without the attempt to integrate these, and other aspects of expertise into an integrated and coherent model. This article presents the…

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between student conceptual level and attitudes toward four methods course components: theory, content, method, and experience working with children. Research findings have indicated that a match between student conceptual level and course instructional mode result in significant…

A critical and comprehensive review of a variety of research programs investigating students' thinking and beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing leads to the identification of nine theoretical and methodological issues that need to be resolved in future research on epistemological theories. (SLD)

Discusses the frequent misconception displayed by students that chromosome structure is a function of chromosome number or ploidy. Provides detailed analyses of the evidence concerning the prevalence of this ploidy/structure misconception among students of introductory genetics and the potential sources for inaccurate communication that it can…