This study evaluates the use of an open-ended question to determine students' knowledge structure on the topic of galvanic cells. The open-ended question was developed and administered to 163 Grade 10 students who had earlier completed a course on electrochemistry. Students' responses were marked as well as coded on the basis of the fields…

The use of external representations has a potential to facilitate inquiry learning, especially in hypothesis generation and scientific reasoning, which are typical difficulties encountered by students. This study proposes and investigates the effects of a three-dimensional thinking graph (3DTG) that allows learners to combine in a single image,…

Research in contemporary biology has become increasingly complex and organized around understanding biological processes in the context of systems. To better reflect the ways of thinking required for learning about systems, we developed and implemented a pedagogical approach using box-and-arrow models (similar to concept maps) as a foundational…

Inscriptions are central to the practice of science. Previous studies showed, however, that preservice teachers even those with undergraduate degrees in science, generally do not spontaneously produce inscriptions that economically summarize large amounts of data. This study was designed to investigate the production of inscription while a group…

Presents and discusses results of a project that studied the effectiveness of concept and Vee mapping strategies in helping Black inner-city high school students (N=250) learn biology concepts meaningfully. The project sought to assess effects on achievement of the two methods as part of a carefully designed sequence of instruction. (Author/JN)

A control group of 40 eighth graders completed a unit on elements and compounds. An experimental group of 42 completed concept maps on the same topic. Results of a one-tailed T test demonstrated the usefulness of concept maps as advance organizers. (KR)

Discussed is the relationship of concept-mapping by students to the meaningful learning of genetics and ecological concepts. The implications of these results for teacher education in biology are addressed. (KR)

Verified the efficacy of concept and Vee mapping heuristics under cooperative, cooperative-competitive, and individualistic whole-class learning conditions in improving (n=808) eighth graders' achievement in ecology and genetics. Experimental groups achieved significantly better than the control groups; students in cooperative-competitive…

(PR)

Selective illustrative examples of students' learning difficulties and misconceptions in first-year general and organic chemistry are presented in the students' terms, followed by strategies the author uses to overcome the difficulties. Suggests that student misconceptions in first-year chemistry are not interrelated logically and are not prone to…

Provides examples of how concept mapping can be used to help overcome misconceptions in college chemistry. (PR)