Relatively little is known about students' conceptions of research and, in particular, whether there are conceptually discrete patterns of variation that can be used to model this phenomenon in terms of research-as-learning outcomes. The present study explores the dimensionality of students' conceptions of research from two complementary research…

This paper comments on the article "Psychology and Phenomenology: A Clarification" by H. H. Kendler. In this article, Kendler misrepresented contemporary existential-humanistic psychology and conventional (or natural) scientific psychology. With regard to the former, he presented a confused, unwittingly biased, and all-too-stereotypic picture.…

A good understanding of dimensional analysis is a needed prerequisite to adequately perform and report quantitative chemical analyses in support of chemical processes. Some common teaching and learning misconceptions related to the volumetric dilution equation are discussed.

Less than a decade ago, Howe et al. (1998) attempted to demonstrate the lack of scientific support for the concept of innate talent (IT). Most ([approximately equal to] 75%) of the 30 commentators to that target article clearly disagreed with their core position. In spite of Ericsson's current efforts to counter or circumvent the major objections…

The process of submitting documentation to testing agencies as proof of a disability can be time consuming, expensive, and even intimidating to test takers with learning disabilities. Misconceptions about the accommodations review process employed by testing agencies add to the anxiety that many test takers feel around obtaining approval for…

Students bring prior knowledge to their learning experiences. This prior knowledge is known to affect how students encode and later retrieve new information learned. Teachers and content developers can use information about students' prior knowledge to create more effective lessons and materials. In many content areas, particularly the sciences,…

This article presents the authors' response to Pignotti and Mercer's "Holding Therapy and Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Are Not Supported and Acceptable Social Work Interventions." Pignotti and Mercer offer a very detailed, informative, scholarly, and eloquently expressed concern about the merit of holding therapies and the danger of offering…

Integral theory is a way of knowing that helps foster the recognition that disparate aspects of reality--such as biological constitution, cultural worldviews, felt-sense of selfhood, and social systems--are all critically important to any knowledge quest. Integral theory provides an "all quadrants, all levels" (K. Wilber, 2006, p. 26)…

Students were asked to answer a multiple-choice, particulate-level question on gas properties and also explain their understanding on gas particles at the microscopic levels when the gas sample was cooled. The question was considered to be troublesome by some students as the question did not depict the critical attribute to change and some…

A major problem in understanding a new theory is that rapid gains in popularity are accompanied by misconceptions and distortions (Valsiner, 1988). A developmental theorist, Lev Vygotsky, has rapidly become a much repeated name at all levels of educational psychology: theoretical, empirical, and pedagogical. And once again, inexplicable…

This article provides instructors with guidelines for teaching simple experimental design for the comparison of two treatment groups. Two designs with specific examples are discussed along with common misconceptions that undergraduate students typically bring to the experiment design process. Features of experiment design that maximize power and…

In order to think, to interpret and judge correctly, the humans have to comprehend what they have learned. Concepts are the abstract representatives of the classifications that are formed by objects, events, ideas and behaviors which have common specifications. (Fidan, N., 1985). Concepts reduce the complexity by simplifying the environment that…

The optimal age in FLL (foreign language learning) for children has been discussed over 50 years but there is no satisfactory conclusion for us. However, the notion "the younger, the better" in FLL has a big market in the world. As a result, the distorted hypothesis is being spread widely as a true and complete theory. Specifically…

There are countless Schools and Colleges of Education around the country touting strong commitments to cultural and linguistic diversity (CLD), culturally responsive teaching, and multicultural education in their teacher-preparation programs; however, we are still seeing critical masses of graduates from these programs teach (and assess learning)…

A higher education development team consisting of four professors of reading at two universities designed a set of lessons for possible use in helping teachers or preservice teachers develop strategies to produce effective comprehension skills of elementary students. These techniques were first used with undergraduate candidates and then revised…