This study concerns determining whether three types of advance organizers (visual, audio, or written) had any effect upon learning a biological concept as measured by a constructed achievement test and whether advance organizers are more effective across learner variables of I.Q., abstract reasoning and sex. One hundred twenty randomly selected…

Two groups of 5-year-old children were evaluated using several measures of language and concept ability: Stanford-Binet, Form L-M; Preschool Inventory (PSI); Boehm Test of Basic Concepts; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Form B (PPVT); and the Auditory-Vocal Automatic, Motor Encoding, Auditory-Vocal Association, and Vocal Encoding subtests of the…

This paper presents the theoretical changes that have developed in Conceptual Dependency Theory and their ramifications in computer analysis of natural language. The major items of concern are: the elimination of reliance on "grammar rules" for parsing with the emphasis given to conceptual rule based parsing; the development of a…

While the increased availability of specific materials designed for language arts curriculums offers teachers convenience, it is important to continue to evaluate materials according to their usefulness as tools to aid the teaching-learning process. Language arts materials can be classified according to function: (1) those that encourage imitating…

This report is one of a series evaluating the Parent/Child Program. This program is designed to provide preschool education for 3- to 4-year-olds whose parents cannot afford nursery schools but yet are above the income level for Head Start participation. Two groups of parents participated in separate but equivalent Parent/Child courses in a…

This report, a compilation of 12 symposium papers presented by participants from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds, examines the qualitative aspects of educational planning with particular reference to developing countries. Following an overview paper that expresses the need for a change in educational planning strategy, the various…

The purpose of this study was to investigate both the relationship between verbalization and shift-learning and the possible prepotent stimulus dimensions of the eighty-four 7-year-olds used as subjects. Four pairs of two-dimensional stimuli were presented to the children, for the discrimination learning task, in the following order: large black,…

This study sought to outline the general consensus of sociologists, educators, planners, administrators, and social reformers in India as to the nature of adult literacy; to examine drawbacks (if any) in their concepts; and to analyze and harmonize different viewpoints on functional literacy. Differing concepts in the field at large were traced…

This unit emphasizes concept-learning through the discovery approach and child-centered activities. "Discovering Matter" is treated in the kindergarten, "Matter Around Us" in grade 1, "Changes in Matter" in grade 4 and "Atoms and Molecules" in grade 6. The unit for each grade contains (1) understandings to…

The research described in this paper is concerned with conceptual learning in disadvantaged children. The various studies discussed were concerned with the current learning capacity of the subjects. The tasks presented consisted of inductive concept problems. Subjects were provided with various experiences and the effects of these procedures on…

This study explores the efficacy of two methods of teaching students, modeling and concept formation, to express warranted uncertainty in classroom discussions and in written work. The subjects were fifth graders from a lower middle class background who were divided into four groups: (1) a control group, (2) a group that observed a model express…

This paper is concerned with the question of relationship among preferred perceptual modes, selected independent variables which cause individual differences, and the resulting effects on conceptual behavior. Subjects ranged from four and one-half years to eight and one-half years of age. Each child chosen by the plan was screened for color…

In the first of three studies, separately reported, the effects of prompting and sequencing on a science concept task were studied with college students. The data analysis showed that the prompting procedure was significantly different from a no-prompting condition; prompting seemed to negate the affect of the defined concept instructional…

Three aspects of concept teaching might be guided by the conceptual learning and development model. First, by assessing the characteristics of cognitive style, classificatory skills, and logical reasoning ability, the student's readiness to attain concepts under various circumstances can be determined. Secondly, the model points to optimal methods…

The criterion problem in the neoPiagetian cognitive-developmental literature is reviewed. This problem has provoked debate in the context of three empirical questions: concept age norms, concept training effects, and concept invariant sequences. It is argued that only the question of invaniant sequences in same-stage concepts is theoretically…