Explores the significance of concept mapping for education and curriculum development. Discusses two main streams in curriculum paradigms and important processes, and the functions which concept mapping can have in education and curriculum development. Examines why students in educational institutions don't yet make systematic use of concept maps,…

Shows that the construction of mental representations that capture a situation based on the comprehension of a diagram are mediated by the possession of appropriate background knowledge. Indicates that background knowledge deficiencies may make it difficult for beginning students of a domain to construct suitable mental representations from…

Low-achieving seventh-grade students were assigned to two science intervention groups, a read-and-discuss teacher-directed method group and a group in which a model of concept mapping that connected major and minor concepts followed the lesson. Results indicate that using graphic representations was more effective than the traditional approach.…

Determines teachers' conceptions of evolutionary theory using the technique of concept mapping. Discusses the methodology, the survey items, and concept map features. Makes specific recommendations for the teaching of evolution. (Contains 32 references.) (DDR)

Proposes that conceptual and procedural knowledge develop in an iterative fashion and improved problem representation is one mechanism underlying the relations between them. Two experiments were conducted with 5th and 6th grade students learning about decimal fractions. Results indicate conceptual and procedural knowledge do develop, iteratively,…

Reports on the results of a project that examined preservice art teachers' thinking about contemporary art and teaching by having them create concept maps. Indicates that the participants settled on an approach and changed it slightly when given more information and teaching suggestions. (CMK)

This article presents the results of focus groups conducted with participants following the completion of a Child Welfare Practice Certificate Program. Concept mapping was used as the guiding research method for the data collection and analysis. Social work students and child welfare workers generated statements during the focus group session that…

The 1st article (C. Campbell & M. Ungar, 2004) of this 2-part exploration of postmodern approaches to family therapy and narrative approaches to career counseling explored the differences between traditional trait and factor counseling models and postmodern approaches using life narratives and social constructionism. In this 2nd article, the…

This paper reports on a paper and pencil concept-sorting strategy that enables trainee teachers to restructure their knowledge in any one domain of science. It is used as a self-study tool, mainly to enable them to break down and understand the progression of concepts beyond the level at which they have to teach. The strategy involves listing key…

Introductory tertiary level science classes (i.e., at the university or post-compulsory school level) including those for biology face increasing diversity in intake. Previous research has indicated university level teachers assume a certain level of prior knowledge which may or may not be possessed by such students. This report focuses on the use…

Most professors realize that students receive and process information in different ways. Some professors are even capable of identifying how most students learn. If students' learning styles are compatible with the teaching style of their instructors, they tend to retain more information, effectively apply it, and have a better attitude toward the…

Preservice teachers studied texts about three fundamentally important science concepts. They read versions with no analogy, versions with a simple analogy, and versions with an elaborate analogy. An elaborate analogy is one that consists of text and pictorial components in which similarities between the analog and the target concept are made…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of conceptual change texts accompanied with concept mapping instruction, compared to traditional instruction (TI), on 8th grade students' understanding of solution concepts and their attitudes toward science as a school subject. Solution Concept Test was developed as a result of examination…

This article describes an interactive professional development unit that engages both novice and experienced evaluators in (a) learning about the Essential Competencies for Program Evaluators (ECPE), (b) applying the competencies to program evaluation contexts, and (c) using the ECPE to reflect on their own professional practices. The article…

This article focuses on these key themes: (1) the value of education as learning to be fully human, (2) the value of education as learning to be fully human with others and for others - inviting us to consider the concept of "social capital" as a way of tapping into and releasing this value; and accordingly, (3) a number of practical…