The author defines and discusses the cognitive theory of constructivism as it relates to teaching mathematics. It is suggested that the philosophical and theoretical view of knowledge and learning embodied in constructivism offers hope that educational processes will be discovered enabling students to acquire deep understanding rather than…

Follows the development of the conceptual boundaries used in defining a case study through the stages of a research project about the development of teacher knowledge. Compares the process with the Hermeneutical Circle. (FMW)

Use of probes and data-logging software to introduce dynamic line graphs to young children in the context of science investigations found this approach facilitated effective use of line graphs as models of relationships between variables. (Author/MKR)

Illustrates one approach to presenting language as a reflection of culture, taking as a topic the marked tendency in French to use negative terms to express positive concepts. Negation in French becomes a fertile source of pedagogical activities since it allows reflection upon at least three points to help students go beyond the grammatical…

Reviews recent literature concerning what to do to help foreign learners of Italian develop communicative competence, i.e., a functional knowledge of the uses of the language. This literature shows that to be conceptually fluent in a language is to know how that language encodes concepts on the basis of metaphorical reasoning. (33 references) (CK)

Proposes the use of conceptualization, exploration, and higher-level problem solving in differential equations courses as a replacement for some of the traditional material that can now be delegated to the computer. (MKR)

Cognitive development research can be applied to the learning of a second language, resulting in a view of language learning as the acquisition and development of expertise. From this framework, two processes are viewed from within this framework for learners of English: learning vocabulary and learning discourse and story. (Contains 10…

Presents the use of manipulatives in the three stages of concept learning called concrete, bridging, and symbolic. Examines the three stages in developing the concept of rounding two-digit numbers. (MDH)

From a study of students in 7th through 12th grade it was concluded that salient external features of the problems, as well as factors related to the solver largely influence students' responses to the problems. The theoretical framework, however, is not the most influential factor in determining students' responses to the problems. (PR)

Suggests ways to bring home to the introductory physics student some of the excitement of recent discoveries in particle physics. Describes particle detectors and encourages the use of the Standard Model along with real images of particle tracks to determine three-dimensional views of tracks. (MVL)

This study compared traditional instruction (basal approach) with an interactive instructional conversation (IC) approach for enhancing the language and concept development of five Hispanic students (ages 7-9) with learning disabilities. Proximal measures indicated higher levels of discourse and greater participation with IC, whereas distal…

Investigated order of quantity concept development on a range of quantity conservation tasks. Subjects were 15 adults and children having spastic cerebral palsy from birth and attending the same special school or day unit. Found a sequence of development similar to that in children without the handicap, and scalogram analysis supported similarity…

Investigated children's preferred learning styles when exploring spatial concepts. Found that young children first develop the spatial concept of topology, which supports Piaget's theory, followed by the concepts of position. The two separate groups of children appeared to exhibit different learning styles when exploring space concepts. (AP)

The concept of fractional number was studied with 10- to 12-year-old and 13- to 16-year-old students who were deaf and hard of hearing (n=21) and comparison groups of hearing students (n=26). The deaf and hard-of-hearing students achieved similarly to younger hearing students in overall performance by fraction type and problem solving strategies.…

Describes an experimental course in which the programming language ISETL served as a tool for exploring concepts in abstract algebra, and identifies instructional strategies that facilitate the successful use of ISETL. Offers informal observations regarding the effectiveness of this approach. (13 references) (Author/MKR)