Concept mapping typically refers to the graphic representation of concepts and their interrelationships. In this instance, concept mapping is used as a means for assessing an individual's conceptual understanding of a curricular topic. In a series of studies with teacher trainees, emphasis was on determining whether concept maps have regular…

One area explored in the second (in-depth) phase of the Learning in Science Project was "children's science," defined as views of the world and the meanings for words that children have and bring with them to science lessons. The inquiry reported focuses on problems/difficulties of learning about the concept of "force" through…

One area explored in the second (in-depth) phase of the Learning in Science Project was "children's science," defined as views of the world and the meanings for words that children have and bring with them to science lessons. The investigation reported focuses on primary, intermediate, and secondary students' (N=41) ideas about selected…

Theories of Piaget, Erickson, Freud, and other behavioral psychologists are reviewed in an examination of the development of adolescent self-concept. The implications, for the physical education teacher or athletic coach, of the adolescent's self-consciousness and egocentricity are discussed. It is suggested that the physical education teacher is…

Preschool and first-grade children's story production was studied. Participants were 96 children who were asked to relate stories about two familiar events: baking cookies and taking a trip to the beach. Story events were depicted in line drawings in a coloring book. Half the sample was assigned to a preview condition in which children narrated…

The Educational Leaders in Mathematics (ELM) Project, was an experimental inservice program for teachers of mathematics, grades kindergarten to 12. The major focus on the project was to help teachers develop and implement approaches to mathematics instruction based on a constructivist view of learning. ELM demonstrated the significant impact of…

This is volume 2 of the series of translations of books from the Soviet literature on research in the psychology of mathematics instruction and on teaching methods influenced by the research. An introduction to Soviet education and mathematics education is provided. The purpose of this volume is to substantiate the idea that a genuine solution to…

This study examined children's application of ecological concepts under conditions that were similar to or different from the conditions under which they first applied the concepts while playing a microcomputer-based ecosystems game. Two task dimensions were studied: (1) the form in which the information was presented (iconic or symbolic); and (2)…

Addressing the academically troubled student's central problem in creating effective written and oral compositions--difficulty in analyzing and synthesizing material--a sequence of speech writing courses videotapes, and then holds class discussions of, student speech-compositions. Utilizing the student's relative facility in speech, this…

Perspectives on concept mapping and its benefits to students in the learning of scientific concepts are presented in this paper. A concept map is defined as a two-dimensional heirarchical representation of concepts which indicates the relationship between the selected concepts. Aspects of concept mapping addressed in this review include: (1) its…

Robert Katz's model of the effective administrator, based on essential technical, human, and conceptual skills, offers a useful framework for the administrator of a program in English as a second language (ESL). The technical, human, and conceptual skills specific to the ESL program environment are outlined and illustrated, and Katz's estimation…

When in childhood concepts about alcohol and drinking begin to develop has just begun to be investigated. A study was conducted to examine cognitive, maturational, and differential exposure influences on the acquisition of concepts about alcoholic beverages in preschool children. Knowledge about alcoholic beverages and drinking was assessed in 65…

The organization and argument of this paper on the status of economic education in American schools today are essentially summarized in four observations. They are that: (1) the current emphasis of economic education is overwhelmingly cognitive and focuses on increasing student knowledge and understanding of our economic system; (2) available…

A study was conducted to examine students' reading difficulties from a metacognitive perspective by considering the content of their awareness and the control they demonstrated over that awareness as they reflected on similarities and differences in various types of reading materials. Subjects were 35 seventh grade students representing seven…

In this paper examples of the role of analogical reasoning in expert problem solving are presented. These are intended to show that using an analogy can change an expert's understanding of a problem situation by changing the conceptual model he or she uses to think about the situation. This suggests that using a good analogy may allow students to…