Informs teachers about using concept maps as a learning tool and alternative assessment tools in education. Presents research results of how students might use concept maps to communicate their cognitive structure. (Author/KHR)

Reviews research on the physiology of learning, suggesting the development of a new educational model consistent with natural brain development. Considers connected learning a physiological imperative. Discusses ways of using the Natural Human Learning Process (NHLP) in the classroom and the development of an NHLP curriculum unit. (27 citations)…

Student comments about having time in class to think and solve problems are presented. Stressed are teaching methods which allow students to familiarize themselves with the problem, think about solution processes, work through the solution process, and reflect while solving a problem. (CW)

Reports the use of two different visual control treatments (self-controlled versus system-imposed) among students with different cognitive styles. Students in middle school were tested to determine how they learned from instructional materials generated using different design approaches. Results indicated that students with different cognitive…

Shows how box diagrams and AVOW diagrams may be used to solve problems concerning networks of resistors that obey Ohm's Law. Presents outcomes and feedback from students and teachers. Concludes with suggestions as to how these techniques might be incorporated into the teaching of basic circuit theory. (Contains 22 references.) (DDR)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of an eclectic thinking processes model on the logical reasoning abilities of students in grades six through twelve. The experimental school consisted of 159 students whereas the control school had 111 students. The Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT) was administered to the sample as…

This study compared the effects of an elaborated unit of instruction and a hierarchical unit on students' online processing activities, efficiency of encoding new information, and facility in solving problems. Participants were six education graduate students rated as novices on the to-be-learned content--a unit on the principles of photography.…

An understanding of fraction addition can be thought to involve two quantitative ideas: (1) the understanding that adding to an original quantity increases its size, and (2) a sense of how much increase occurs. Both of these ideas should underlie or inform a child's approach to problems involving fraction addition and thereby constrain the class…

The purpose of this study was to examine the thinking underlying the questions posed by a science teacher to her seventh grade students in an instructional activity called Mind Games, in which hypothetical situations focussed on scientific issues are proposed and explored at least once during each major instructional unit. Mind games are conveyed…

This paper posits a cognitive model for understanding and learning physics that is an alternative to the formal deductive system. Recent findings of Fuller, Karplus, Lawson, and others are cited in arguing against using a formal deductive approach to teaching physics. The model demonstrates types of action-oriented knowledge structures as they…

Most of the research on mathematical and scientific thinking has been concerned with uncovering knowledge structures and reasoning processes in people of different levels of competence. How these structures and processes are acquired has only recently become a major concern. Thus, some of the major research on mathematical and scientific thinking…

Describes a study that was designed to apply the learning hierarchy paradigm in an instructional unit in high school biology. Findings indicated that regardless of the pupils' sex or the type of school, students taught the hierarchically organized learning task achieved significantly higher than students whose learning task was not hierarchically…

The Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment University Physics (SCALE-UP) project at North Carolina State University (NCSU) is developing a curriculum to promote learning through in-class group activities in introductory physics classes up to 100 students. The authors are currently in Phase II of the project using a specially designed…

Argues that there are many kinds of understanding and many ways to reach these different understandings. Suggests that this is the reason why articulating general rules that can consistently lead to understanding is difficult. Discusses the relationship between brain structure and learning. (DDR)

Principles for ensuring effective use of semantic webbing in meeting study skill needs of students with learning problems are noted. Important study skills are listed, along with suggested semantic web topics for which subordinate ideas may be developed. Two semantic webs are presented, illustrating the study skills of multiple choice test-taking…