One hundred and seven 5th-8th graders were tested on spatial rotation multiple-choice items to determine age and gender differences in spatial ability. Thirty-one of them were subsequently interviewed. They were asked to explain their reasoning when solving 4 of the tested items and a problem-solving task. Features of visual and non-visual…

A study investigated the learning style preferences of 214 students (ages 10-17) with visual impairments and their sighted peers. Students with visual impairments more frequently preferred practical, thinking, or organized styles. Boys with visual impairments tended to prefer extroverted styles and girls with visual impairments tended to prefer…

Examined the strategies used by native-English-speaking foreign language (FL) learners to read Spanish and English texts in order to investigate differences in FL reading strategies between males and females. Results indicate that students processed the Spanish and English passages using local and global strategies, respectively, and that males…

Five- and nine-year olds' (N=80) television viewing and program recall in response to learning instructions were examined. Instructions affected visual-emphasis program segments only; visual orientation and cued recall increased in younger children; and free recall and cued recall were enhanced in older children. (Author/BS)

Cognitive style is one factor that may influence individuals' preferences for different learning methods and activities related to continuous professional development. Explores the cognitive styles and learning preferences of personnel practitioners (n=127) in the United Kingdom. Finds that the relationship between cognitive style and preference…

This study investigates gender differences with regard to three factors of scientific literacy. The study involved students (N=772) in Grades 9 and 10. A 100-item multiple choice test based on National Science Education Standards was used to assess scientific literacy while gender differences were explored using analysis of variance procedures.…

Selections of papers from the seventeenth annual conference of the Australian Science Education Research Association are presented in this volume of Research in Science Education (RISE). A diversity of themes are addressed and include new topic areas as well as concerns that have been cited in previous issues of RISE. The papers focus on such…

Many of the reasons offered for the difference between boys and girls in certain kinds of cognitive tasks have been attributed to biology. However, other factors need to be considered, and so the role that motivation and learning play in gender differences is addressed in this paper. The focus rests on gender differences, both in the individual…

An ethnographic study was conducted with the goal of comparing the botanical knowledge of nine sixth grade students with the botanical concepts developed in the elementary textbook series, Science, by Silver Burdett, 1985. The extent to which the child's conceptual framework resembles that of the scientist and the extent to which the textbook…

Describes a study that identified various individual information seeking behavior patterns and determined how users' motivation, prior knowledge, gender, and cognitive processing influenced learning and retention within a hypermedia environment for undergraduate students. Use of the Group Embedded Figures Test is described and further research is…

Examines contextual differences in student motivation and self-regulated learning in seventh- and eighth-grade mathematics, social studies, and English. Results revealed differences by subject area and gender in motivation and cognitive strategy use variables, but not in regulatory strategy use or academic performance; relations among these…

Contends that, in many ways, college teaching has remained largely unchanged since the days of the medieval university. Discusses the role of cooperative learning in higher education and maintains that the technique can enhance critical thinking skills. (CFR)

Abstracts and abstractors' critiques of eight science education research studies and two responses to critiques are presented in this journal issue. Each of the studies reviewed focused on a different research theme. Topics addressed include: (1) validation of a learning hierarchy for the mole concept; (2) transfer of learning with emphasis on…

Students' motivation was studied within specific academic content areas using a goal theory framework. The relationships between motivational orientation and cognitive processes within and across content areas are also considered. Six-hundred sixth and seventh graders, approximately 90% white, from two suburban middle schools participated.…

Psychological factors that may underlie the consistent gender and ethnic group differences found in science achievement were studied in a sample of 557 college students (297 male and 260 female) taking the first semester of a 2-semester sequence in organic chemistry. About 70 percent were Caucasian, with 23 percent Asian and 37 percent African…