Cognitive performance can be improved through the explicit instruction of strategies that produce good performance. Variations in the ability to access knowledge relevant to specific materials that might affect strategy use, students' perceptions of strategies, and strategy maintenance are considered. (TJH)

States that Clandinin and Connelly (1987) provide a useful basis for examining teachers' personal knowledge and argues that the personal knowledge that most influences teachers' instructional practice may not be beliefs or theories, but rather how they organize instructional knowledge. Develops the concept of knowledge structures and illustrates…

This study explored whether 142 teachers from different academic disciplines possessed different theories of knowledge and different attitudes toward education, and whether those attitudes affected classroom practice. Findings indicated that, on three of four scales used in the study, teachers differed as a function of academic discipline.…

Recent research suggests that knowledge is stored in the learner's head as a network of concepts or constructs. Children's mathematical problem-solving strategies become increasingly abstract as they are able to engage in more abstract thinking. An experimental study using an alternative Cognitively Guided Instruction approach is described.…

Visual representations are essential for communicating ideas in the science classroom; however, the design of such representations is not always beneficial for learners. This paper presents instructional design considerations providing empirical evidence and integrating theoretical concepts related to cognitive load. Learners have a limited…

This paper represents one portion of an ongoing effort to elaborate on pedagogical principles based on structural-developmental (largely Piagetian) theory and research. Here, a concept of "problem structure" is developed as a means for identifying physical factors that contribute to children's ability to apply experimental reasoning.…

This report summarizes the conceptual framework, findings, and methods of the Teacher Beliefs Study, an intensive, two-year program of research on the structures and functions of teachers' belief systems. Eight teachers in three school districts were videotaped over the course of a semester and were interviewed for a total of approximately 20…

Presents an overview of teacher preparation and concludes that the distinction between "knowledge" and "pedagogy" is a relatively recent development. Discusses different types of teacher knowledge ("content,""pedagogical content," and "strategic") and forms of knowledge…

Investigates how situational knowledge differs across individuals of different competence levels. Analyzes participants' descriptions of physics problem situations. Discusses the relationship between competence and the structure of problem situations, differences between experts and novices, and implications for teaching. (Author/KHR)

Interactive Semantic Mapping is presented as an interactive instructional strategy developed from multiple theoretical bases to aid reading comprehension in students with learning disabilities. It involves students in predicting relationships among concepts and sharing knowledge to facilitate comprehension of text-related concepts. This article…

Describes a model for generative teaching of comprehension that focuses on students' knowledge base and preconceptions; motivation; attention; and generation of new models and explanations. Generative teaching procedures for facilitating comprehension in elementary school are reported. (Author/LB)

Teaching/learning trends include (1) incremental (information explosion); (2) stationary (biology of cognitive processes); and (3) iterative (recurring debates over teaching methods). Effects are externalization of knowledge structures, the importance of "importance," and instructional "enabling," failure of teachers and students to confront real…

Most research on personal epistemologies has conceived them as made up of relatively large, coherent, and stable cognitive structures, either developmental stages or beliefs (perhaps organized into theories). Recent work has challenged these views, arguing that personal epistemologies are better understood as made up of finer grained cognitive…

The present study builds on earlier work by Meyer and Land (2003) which introduced the generative notion of "threshold concepts" within (and across) disciplines, in the sense of transforming the internal view of subject matter or part thereof. In this earlier work such concepts were further linked to forms of knowledge that are "troublesome",…

As faculty, our goals for students are often tacit, hidden not only from students but from ourselves as well. We present a conceptual framework for considering teaching goals--what we want our students to achieve--that encourages us to think more broadly about what we mean by achieving in our knowledge domains. This framework includes declarative…