Scholars claim that there are different sources of knowledge. These sources have come to be thought of as foundations for knowledge. Cognitivists are not united on the foundation of knowledge but they agree that knowledge is possible as against the skeptics. Intuitionism is a cognitive theory which states that knowledge is attainable through the…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Curriculum Development: Theory into Design.] Research in physics education has contributed substantively to improvements in the learning and teaching of university physics by informing the development of research-based instructional materials for physics courses. Reports on the design of these…

Intuition has been long seen as an element of effective human performance in demanding tasks (i.e. expertise). But its form, constitutive elements and development remain subject to diverse explanations. This paper discusses these elements and explores theories and empirical evidence about what constitutes intuitive expertise, and offers an account…

Gestalt psychologists proposed two distinct learning mechanisms. Associative learning occurs gradually through the repeated co-occurrence of external stimuli or memories. Insight learning occurs suddenly when people discover new relationships within their prior knowledge as a result of reasoning or problem solving processes that re-organize or…

This paper addresses many theories of learning and human development which are very similar with regards as to how they suggest learning occurs. The differences in most of the theories exist in how they treat the development of the learner compared to methods of teaching. Most of the major learning theories taught to educators today are based on…

Maintains that our understanding of learning cannot be complete until we recognize the symbiotic relationship between cognitive and affective means of knowing. Asserts that in the development of critical thinking, aesthetic forms, perceived intuitively, become the criteria against which the child intellectually measures the "fit" of the…

The focus of this paper is on some of the difficulties students experience in learning from texts and in solving other types of academic problems, because of their failure to distinguish between skills needed for everyday thinking and those needed for academic thinking. The paper discusses the types of processing problems children experience when…

This paper proposes a theory that can account for differences between everyday and formal mathematics knowledge and a set of processes by which informal knowledge is transformed into formal mathematics. After an introduction, the paper is developed in five sections. The first section lays out the nature of informal, everyday mathematics knowledge.…

Reports on a study which investigated the order of acquisition of intuitive notions of qualitative speed. Results indicated that an array of prerequisites, equivalent, and independent relationships existed among the tasks administered. Confirmed the evolution of reasoning for notions of qualitative speed found by Piaget. (Author/TW)

The relationship between psychology and the arts, and the role of the arts in the educational process are explored. The proposition put forth argues that the sensory system is a primary resource in cognitive life. The relationship of intuition to intellect, of how the whole and its constituent qualities relate, also is explored. The forms of…

Using current mind/brain research, this paper explores the "hidden curriculum" in the contexts of teaching, learning and supervision. It explains ways in which current research on the nature of learning can fit into today's typical, "clinical" teaching techniques. The importance of respecting individual modes of learning is stressed; further to…