Shows how several principles from Piaget's theory have a number of implications for the classroom learning environment, curriculum development and teacher role. (BF/JH)

Explores connections between naive epistemology and everyday instructional practice. Reviews examples of naive epistemologies as made up of fine-grained, context-sensitive resources. Presents strategies designed to help students tap those resources for learning introductory physics. Reflects on this work as an example of interplay between two…

When taught to link sorting to self-instruction ("I'm looking for blue triangles") children show perfect accuracy in sorting. This study investigated if this performance would generalize to new stimuli. One participant showed near-perfect generalization to all new stimulus sets (shapes, letters, pictures); two had difficulty with…

A framework for staff development which focuses on acquisition of pedagogical language is presented as a means to increase teachers' cognitive complexity about the teaching-learning process. The language and concepts found in educational theory and research are key factors in enabling teachers' reflective instructional decision making. (JD)

Introduces the common theme among the papers presented in this issue, the development of working memory. Underlines the two different approaches presented. The neo-Piagetian perspective attempts to capitalize on the insights of Piaget's work by proposing information-processing accounts of cognitive development. The second perspective stems from…

Attempts the theoretical rapprochement of two theoretical constructs on working memory, neo-Piagetian models and Baddeley's model. Summarizes both types of models, then discusses their similarities and differences. Presents the results of a longitudinal study that supported the idea that these models might be complementary rather than…

Reviews the literature on the relation between early memory development and corresponding changes in brain development of infants. Finds that an adult-like form of explicit memory emerges between 8 and 12 months of age, drawing heavily on limbic and cortical structures. Offers theoretical perspectives for studying the ontogeny of memory. (JW)

Two experiments examined whether 40 infants would reenact what an adult did or intended to do: (1) infants observed an adult unsuccessfully attempt to complete 4 target acts; and (2) children observed a mechanical device tracing the adults' actions. Infants could infer adults' intentions and imitate target acts, suggesting that children can…

Examines arithmetic and algebra knowledge from a cognitive perspective in an effort to determine what constitutes a pre-algebraic level of understanding. Presents results of a longitudinal study designed to investigate students' readiness for algebra. Proposes a model for the transition from arithmetic to pre-algebra to algebra. Contains 29…

Beneath elements of cognitive development, motivation is seen as a basic concept to describe students' learning in a physics classroom. German secondary school students regard physics as difficult to learn, very abstract, and dominated by males. Knowing about the influence of motivation on learning physics may lead to new insights in the design of…

Suggests that the study of microdevelopment offers a potentially powerful way to relate learning and development where similar changes occur but in differing time frames. Microdevelopment analyzes short-term changes as developmental functions. Individuals and groups function at widely different developmental levels and grow in diverse nonlinear…

Nonuniversal theory can be used to reframe the learning-development dichotomy into a spectrum of important changes, ranging from small-scale learning events to large-scale developmental shifts. Using the universal-to-unique continuum as an organizing framework, several change mechanisms can be identified as necessary for movement through…

Examines how theories of antioppressive education can help educators teach, supervise student teachers, and conduct research in ways that work against repetitions of privileged knowledge and practices. Shows how students may seek knowledge confirming what they already know and challenges educators to disrupt unconscious discourses. (Contains 39…

This article reviews the life of the educational psychologist, Lev S. Vygotsky, as it affected the development of his ideas about the education of children with disabilities. These ideas include the necessity of considering not only the primary disability but also the secondary, tertiary and subsequent strata affecting the student's learning. (DB)

The role that affective states play in learning was investigated from the perspective of a constructivist learning framework. We observed six different affect states (frustration, boredom, flow, confusion, eureka and neutral) that potentially occur during the process of learning introductory computer literacy with AutoTutor, an intelligent…