A study investigated the effect of relevant background knowledge on the reading comprehension of students of Spanish. Students with limited knowledge of baseball took a comprehension test on a Spanish-language report of a baseball game. Results indicate that background knowledge is possibly more important than language level for comprehension.…

Determined if there are certain propositions that physics students (N=31) share with respect to a topic, to what extent is a student's knowledge on a subject idiosyncratic, and if there are different groups of students whose members share distinctive sets of propositions. Results are reported and discussed. (DH)

In a long-term health intervention campaign, researchers tested the proposition that consistency among people's knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors is contingent on high levels of involvement with a given subject. (DF)

Demonstrates the usefulness of the inclusion paradigm as a methodological tool in providing information about the conceptual breadth of selected social and nonsocial superordinate categories in children who exhibit some degree of inclusion logic. (HOD)

Sixth graders at three reading ability levels were trained in the three types of question answer relationships: text explicit, text implicit, and script implicit. Repeated measures multivariate analyses of variance on two passages indicated that the training enhanced students' understanding of task demands of questions and their answer quality.…

Reviews pertinent information about recent developments, issues, and trends in energy education. Areas addressed include the nature of energy education, recent trends in curricula, research on students' and teachers' attitudes and knowledge about energy, and energy education inservice trends. (JN)

Raises three issues concerning the activity of writing and its relation to texts and cultures: (1) knowledge as the basis for the activity of writing, (2) the varying nature of the activity itself and how that activity is shaped by context, and (3) the perceived nature of the written work in a given culture. (HOD)

Describes a study that examined perceptions of reading in terms of both developmental characteristics and implications for reading instruction. (HOD)

Describes research on the effectiveness of "3-2-1 CONTACT," a Public Broadcasting System children's television science series. In the study, 15 of the shows designed for the series' second season were pilot-tested with fourth and fifth graders (N=192) by examining changes in student knowledge using pre- and post-tests. Conclusions are…

Criticizing a conventional view on the subject, this essay distinguishes the concept of educating an individual--that is, transmitting knowledge of any kind--from that of developing an "educated person," and discusses the implications of this distinction for schools' purposes and curricula. (MCG)

In an undergraduate course in international economics, students are required to answer all questions on examinations and to assign weights to the questions to be used in calculating grades. Seventy-three percent of the students like this format. One surprising result is that poorer students have a much better perception of their knowledge level…

Explores the ways in which writers actually use different forms of knowing to create prose. (FL)

Examined how science content knowledge, moral reasoning ability, attitudes, and past experiences mediate the formation of moral judgments on environmental dilemmas. Environmental science majors (N=86) and nonmajors (N=105) participated in the two-phase study which found that moral reasoning is influenced by the context (setting) of a moral…

Attainment of five earth science concepts by high school seniors depended on the amount of previous science coursework by the students and on the size of their school's enrollment. Seniors in Texas high schools were subjects of the study. (Author/PP)

Reported are results of a survey of college students undertaken to determine their level of awareness of current events. Findings indicate low awareness. The author recommends creation of innovative methods for developing student awareness. For journal availability, see SO 505 192. (Author/DB)