Reported are the effects of a conceptually oriented unit on decimal fractions. The relationships between short-term changes in solving processes and the stability of these processes over time, performance of students, and entry achievement level and the long-term effects of conceptually based instruction are discussed. (KR)

A year-long study in 40 eighth grade mathematics classrooms compared the effect on student achievement of teaching with meaning with algorithmic-practice teaching. In general, teaching with meaning was found to increase student achievement. However, differences in response to the methods was seen in the top, middle, and lower thirds of the…

A study asked 24 first grade children from 3 different classes to write number sentences and select appropriate alternative number sentences for addition and subtraction word problems. Results indicated that children could be characterized into five clusters according to their flexibility in accepting alternative number sentences and that…

Proposes helping students understand fractions by establishing connections between students' informal knowledge of fractions and the mathematical symbols used to represent fractions. Sample dialogues demonstrate how these connections can be made. (MDH)

Discusses the results of a four-year study of the conceptions of energy held by science teachers in training. Concludes that the group held a number of different alternative conceptual frameworks. Contains 20 references. (DDR)

Reports on a study designed to determine whether the historical approach to chemistry teaching will promote the conceptual problem-solving ability of eighth-grade students and identify whether high or low achievers profit more from this teaching approach. (DDR)

Argues that the unit operations laboratory provides an ideal setting to help chemical engineering students become better engineering practitioners. Describes a summer program at the Colorado School of Mines that incorporates experience into a unit operations laboratory. (DDR)

Identifies and quantifies the chemistry conceptions used by students when solving chemical equilibrium problems requiring application of LeChatelier's Principle, and explores the feasibility of designing a paper and pencil test to accomplish these purposes. Eleven prevalent incorrect student conceptions about chemical equilibrium were identified…

This paper proposes a methodology to calculate both the difficulty of the basic problems and the difficulty of solving a problem. The method to calculate the difficulty of problem is according to the process of constructing a problem, including Concept Selection, Unknown Designation, and Proposition Construction. Some necessary measures observed…

The cognitive revolution began in the 1950s as researchers began to move away from the study of knowledge acquisition and behaviorism to the study of information and the way it is processed. Four factors are discussed in chapter 1 as contributing to the increase in popularity of the "cognitive revolution" (increasing enthusiasm for the…

This study investigated the instructional conditions required to teach students how to initiate and employ learning activities aimed at conceptual change. The CONTACT-2 strategy (a computer-assisted instructional strategy for promoting conceptual change in the domain of physical geography) served as a starting point for a training procedure aimed…

Recent research literature has highlighted the interest of both teachers and researchers in using analogies to aid students' conceptual understanding. This appears to be especially relevant in secondary chemistry education due to the many abstract concepts that are included in the curricula. This paper reviews recent literature and considers…

This study investigated the effects of K. J. Klauer's (1989) inductive reasoning training program of teaching children. Effects of training and the range of transfer of the training were assessed. The subjects were 34 third-grade Dutch children of average ability, matched on age, sex, and IQ. Children from the training condition (N=17) received…

This paper describes how a target group of seven students in a combined fourth and fifth grade mathematics class used structured representations to solve fraction problems situated within various realistic contexts. Emphasis is given to the ways in which students' thinking about rational number concepts influences and is influenced by the…

Children rarely cite more than one strategy when asked to explain how they solved a particular arithmetic problem, hence their verbal explanations will not necessarily reveal whether they have considered multiple strategies on that problem. However, previous work has shown that, when asked to explain their performance on a task, children often use…