Reports misconceptions identified in students with respect to the topic of parallel lines and the teaching strategies found to be useful in challenging those misconceptions. (11 references) (MDH)

Three learning activities--story generation, reasoning from historical information, and computer modeling--that are designed to help students move toward a more coherent understanding of biological mechanisms are described. A method used to measure a student's level of understanding and their progress during instruction is also described. Ways to…

This study compared the effectiveness of teaching multidigit addition of whole numbers without regrouping prior to teaching it with regrouping to teaching multidigit addition with and without regrouping simultaneously. Pretest/posttest-delayed posttest results of second grade students (n=151) from seven randomly assigned classrooms indicated no…

Reports on a study of 168 undergraduate students at the United Arab Emirates University. Used the "Learning and Study Strategies Inventory" to examine the differences between low-, average-, and high-achieving students. Discovered that motivation was the most powerful discriminating factor separating the students. Includes sample…

The TeachScheme! Project aims to reform three aspects of introductory programming courses in secondary schools. First, we use a design method that asks students to develop programs in a stepwise fashion such that each step produces a well-specified intermediate product. Second, we use an entire series of sublanguages, not just one. Each element of…

This paper presents a study on thinking and learning processes of mathematics and science in teaching through a foreign language, in Finland. The entity of thinking and content learning processes is, in this study, considered as cognitional development. Teaching through a foreign language is here called Content and Language Integrated Learning or…

This paper has two purposes: (1) to explain briefly in terms of Piaget's theory why relationships are fundamental for constructivist teachers; and (2) to show how constructivist teachers can think about relationships in classroom activities. In a nutshell, the message is that the process by which children are constructing their intelligence,…

Because earlier research suggests that children's and adolescents' achievement motivation is mediated by their implicit beliefs and theories about schooling, 70 students (half girls and half boys) in a middle class suburban school district in grades 3 through 12 were interviewed about several dimensions of knowledge about education, including…

To examine the skills and knowledge children use when they develop and tell stories, this study sought to provide an experiential demonstration of how schemata guides comprehension. Subjects were preschool, third-, and fifth-grade children described by their teachers as having average reading comprehension. Each child met with a researcher in an…

Noting that beyond the individual variations among humans, there is a body of mental abilities common to every human being, this book examines the debate among researchers about the extent to which humans are "preprogrammed," and suggests a new scientific psychology of human development. By examining experimental data obtained from…

This book has a two-fold purpose. First, it was intended as a description of the development and testing of a primary school fraction program, presently in practice. This project seeks to develop a realistic alternative to the teaching and learning of fractions. The second purpose was to produce a theory on the teaching and learning of fractions…

Noting that the majority of teachers use restrictive rather than responsive language, this paper suggests that teachers consider using questioning techniques as a way of making their language more responsive. The paper notes that restrictive language involves teacher control, includes commands and criticisms, discourages independent thinking, and…

Confrontation with a mathematical task causes a student to focus initial attention upon particular content and context cues based upon that student's belief system; the student assigns subsequent meaning to that task based upon previous mathematical experience and knowledge. In order to make effective use of students' belief systems, educators…

This paper reviewed literature on cognition to help art teachers understand what they can learn from the huge body of literature that has been generated by cognitive psychologists. It is argued that, in this information society, teaching memorization skills is not enough; students must learn problem-solving skills. A long list of specific thinking…

One hundred seventy-one middle school students participated in a study to assess cognitive activity during television viewing. Students completed a questionnaire about their favorite programs, viewing habits, and social reality beliefs, then viewed a 17-minute professionally edited episode of a family drama and answered a multiple choice…