Discusses how children's knowledge can be measured/described, knowledge patterns across diverse concepts, interaction of knowledge/learning, and ways children construct more advanced problem-solving rules to replace less adequate ones. Evidence, drawn from studies on children's acquisition of knowledge about balance beams, suggests that knowledge…

The National Institute of Education has supported new research and synthesized existing information to provide teachers and administrators with direction for cognitive instruction. Efforts have been made to identify kinds of thinking and learning conducive to success in particular subjects and to offer useful research-based ideas to teachers. (TE)

Social theories have long proclaimed the advent of the postindustrial era. In this era, a new paradigm will emerge which will utilize negotiation as the major problem-solving strategy; planning which emphasizes process rather than goal; and change strategies emphasizing the client, group dynamics, and knowledge from the behavioral sciences.…

Building on previous research on the tendency in students of diverse ages to overrely on proportionality in different domains of mathematics (e.g., geometry, probability), this study shows that--when confronted with missing-value word problems--Flemish primary school pupils strongly tend to apply proportional solution strategies, also in cases…

The various difficulties and cognitive obstacles that students face when they are introduced to algebra are well documented and described in the relevant bibliography. If it is possible, in order to avoid these difficulties, we have adopted the functional approach widening the meaning of algebraic thinking. In this paper, which is part of wider…

In this paper we report on some patterns of reasoning, which emerged during an activity of proving a mathematical statement performed by nine grade and university mathematics students. The statement in question involves drawing figures, working in arithmetic and in algebra. As for secondary students we detected fluency, flexibility and ability of…

This paper further develops an instructional method called here "process-object linking and embedding". The idea is to link the familiar mathematical processes to objects in a familiar situation, then re-embed the new link through mathematical symbols into their mathematical construction. It makes use of children's extra-mathematical,…

The Cognitive Approaches to School Leadership (CASL) Project builds on cognitive-science theories of how people think about problems, with special reference to related studies of administrative practice in general and educational administration in particular. This paper is the second of two papers that reports findings from clinical studies of…

This document features the experiences of three science teachers who video and audiotaped classroom proceedings in order to go back over what was said in classroom events, to explore the intentions and ideas that were perhaps not fully understood at the time. Mary DiSchino, who teaches 3rd and 4th graders, teaches a science curriculum which she…

Investigated qualitative features of proportional reasoning on dimensional intensive variables by sixth- (N=116) and eighth- (N=137) grade students. These features included types of comparison and types of strategies employed. Results based on the administration of four proportional problems, varying in numerical and referential content, are…

Investigated use of concept and Vee-mapping strategies with regular seventh- and eighth-grade science students (N=155), focusing on changes in student acquisition of science knowledge and problem-solving performance. Includes methods of teaching Vee mapping, evaluating the maps, anectdotal records of Piagetian clinical interviews, findings, and…

To ascertain predictive relationships between and within cognitive tempo and cognitive level characteristics of moderately retarded children, the Matching Familiar Figures Test and Essential Math and Language Skills Inventory were administered. No significant predictive relationship from cognitive tempo to level was indicated, but elements of…

Discusses the use of tests in counseling with emphasis on three critical issues: (1) orientation of clients to the use of tests, (2) client involvement in the testing process, and (3) communication of test information to improve the quality of client thinking and problem solving. (Author)

Experienced Physicists solve simple textbook problems differently from beginning students. This paper describes these differences using a computer-implemented model that "learns." The research is set in the the context of modern computer-processing psychology, and is related to other work relevant to help people know and learn…

Examined a model of suicide behavior in college-aged suicide ideators. Results indicate that college-student suicide ideators are under higher levels of negative life stress, are more hopeless, and have higher levels of depression. Poor problem-solvers under high stress were higher on suicide intent than other groups. (Author)