Three experiments examined children's understanding of functional relations in economics. Found that preschoolers understood effects of demand and second graders also understood effects of supply, but even fourth graders often failed to understand motivation and morality effects. Fourth but not second graders explained how motivation and morality…

Explores the use of the story-line method, in which teachers evaluate and clarify their own experiences and events in practice, through three studies involving 80 secondary school teachers. Findings show how the story-line method challenges teachers to select relevant experiences and events. (SLD)

Three studies evaluated a method for developing prior-knowledge structures that prepares students to learn from a text or lecture. Findings indicate that there is a place for lectures and readings in the classroom if students have sufficiently differentiated domain knowledge to use the expository materials in a generative manner. (TJQ)

Presents and applies a teacher professional-development-oriented analytical framework to provide clarity to the discussion of what role network-based communication may play in teacher professional-development experiences. A table presents a summary of advocacy and adversarial claims in network-based professional development by areas of…

Presents the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project's (UCMSP) Every Day Mathematics Program as one current reform-based elementary curriculum incorporating geometry throughout the K-6 curriculum, with an emphasis on hands-on and problem-solving activities. Measures the longitudinal effects of such an approach. (Author/CCM)

Considers how well cerebral palsy students learn high school geometry. Finds that one student needed a lot of time to process visual information. Concludes that the orientation of angles, complexity of the diagram, and the length of the side of an angle all had an impact on understanding. (Author/CCM)

Explores the role of research in the educational reform process by examining two research-informed professional development programs focusing on changing teachers' beliefs and practices. The Cognitively Guided Instruction program and the Integrating Mathematics Assessment projects provide contexts for examining the influence of teachers' knowledge…

A study of 719 men and 464 women (of whom 416 were studying advanced-level economics) found no gender differences in attitudes toward economics once they are studying it. Among those who chose not to study it, women identify lack of knowledge as the principal reason. (SK)

Interviewed 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, and 10-year olds, and adults regarding their knowledge about primary-consciousness, reflective-consciousness, and control activities. Found that the recognition that people do not engage in conscious mental activities when unconscious is still developing during the late middle-childhood years. (Author/KB)

Examined 6-, 8-, and 10-year olds' conceptions of flags as social conventions and their understandings of the symbolic and psychological consequences associated with transgressions toward flags. Found that despite age-related increases in understanding of flags as meaningful collective symbols, children at all ages considered transgressions to be…

Presents a student module modeling knowledge states and learning skills of students in the field of Newtonian dynamics. Uses data recorded during the exploratory activity in microworlds to infer mental representations concerning the concept of force. A fuzzy algorithm able to follow the cognitive states the student goes through in solving a task…

This article describes the development of a culturally appropriate data collection instrument for a study of tobacco-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among youth with deafness. The instrument uses interactive multimedia technology to administer a questionnaire translated into the primary language used by individuals with deafness.…

The Knowledge of Memory Aging Questionnaire was tested in a group of studies with several populations: 33 mental health professionals; 85 older adults; and 110, 32, and 46 undergraduates. Older adults and professionals knew more about pathological than normal memory aging. Instruction improved undergraduates' pathological knowledge. Instrument…

Evaluated a health education program for third graders at the Hult Health Education Center (HEC). Pretests-posttests of a control group, traditional classroom health education group, group that visited the HEC, and group that visited the HEC and incorporated center curricular materials in the classroom indicated that the best outcomes resulted…

Examines the variables related to multiple episodes of sexually transmitted disease (STD) among adolescent females (n=88) and males (n=44). Results indicate that acquisition of an STD is related to the demographic characteristics of age and gender, as well as to the number of lifetime partners and attitudes about STD acquisition. (RJM)