Presents an activity in which students address a problem that allows them to use satellite images and fishing charts to predict where and how to fish, realize the need for conversion data, and discuss how satellite images can be used to exploit wildlife. Contains 16 references. (DDR)

Details the development of a multidimensional problem analysis, classification, and authoring method used to improve student understanding of the mole concept. Includes the results of assessment of the studyware. Contains 46 references. (DDR)

This study describes a conceptual teaching approach that helps students make connections between their everyday activities and mathematical word problems. It includes a brief review of the importance of teaching for understanding and describes four principles of conceptual teaching: (1) use cooperative groups; (2) allow students enough time to act…

This study was conducted to reveal how students at university level justify their solutions to tasks with various degrees of difficulty. The study is part of a larger study of students' concept formation of limits. The mathematical area is limits of functions. The study was carried out at a Swedish university at the first level of mathematics. The…

Babies are active participants in their learning and need to explore a variety of objects. Nurturing relationships support these explorations. Objects are more clearly remembered and understood. Thus, one activity this article suggests doing with a 12-month-old to encourage abstract thinking, is talking about how squeezing the bottle of ketchup…

This paper documents the dynamics of the social interactions within two small groups of sixth grade students as they solved problems and attempted to understand the concepts related to the nature of matter and molecular theory. Similarities and differences of social interactions between the two groups are compared, and interpretations presented…

Models and modeling are frequently used as instructional tools in science education to convey important information concerning both the explanatory and structural features of topic areas in science. The efficacy of models as such rests almost entirely upon students' ability to conceptualize them as abstracted "representations" of…

This paper reports on an empirical study of educators' perceptions of learning concepts, reviews the cognitive learning literature, and argues for an expanded view of conceptual knowledge and its role in education and training. The report begins with discussions of changing views of concept learning and declarative and procedural components of…

Difficulty in comprehending mathematical concepts is a consequence of the system of knowledge acquisition prevailing in schools, and more specifically, of the typical pattern of classroom interaction. In the common task-setting/task-solving pattern, the teacher divides the subject matter into segments. Students are involved interactively in…

Results of empirical research relating computer programming instruction and understanding of the concept of mathematical variables is unclear. While some studies have found a positive relationship, others have reported nonsignificant results. The purpose of this study was to investigate high school students' (n=36) understanding of the concept of…

An experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that abstract materials increase accuracy in solving categorical syllogisms. In an attempt to encourage subjects to reason their way through the problems rather than to make judgments about the truth or desirability of the proffered conclusions, the premises were composed of familiar words in…

Several recent studies in which subjects solved pencil/paper problems concerning the behavior of moving objects have shown that many people have incorrect beliefs about motion. The present study considered the question of whether these naive beliefs are manifested in situations where people observe and interact with moving objects. Several…

Abstracts of most of the papers presented at the 55th annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), held at the Abbey, Lake Geneva, WI, April 5-8, 1982 have been collected in this publication. Papers relate to such topics as teacher education: preservice and inservice, cognitive development, research…