This paper describes the BUD project which surveyed childrens' conceptions of division, and of fractions and decimals. The lack of connection between counting skills and conceptual understanding is discussed. The expectations for new algorithms and the basic idea in planning the BUD project are summarized. Some previous studies on counting, the…

The effects of two curricula for teaching number concepts to kindergarten children: a part-part-whole (PPW) curriculum emphasizing set-subset relationships between cardinal numbers, and a count/say/write (CSW) standard curriculum were composed. The concept of number attained by children taught with these two curricula was compared to that of…

A new field component for the teacher education program at Michigan State University includes the use of collaborating mentor teachers each of whom oversees an individual preservice teacher's field experiences for a two-year period. Instead of simply providing a classroom context for students' field visits, mentor teachers studied the Academic…

Two studies of concept development and categorization among 1-, 2-, and 3-year-old children suggest that concept formation is a socially guided process involving convergence on an adult model. Convergence in labeling is an early strategy for shaping children's category boundaries, while later, more elaborate linguistic means are used to…

This document reports on a study of 48 kindergarten children in Israel regarding their concepts of "solid" and "liquid." Children were asked to classify a set of 30 materials into two groups (a group of 9 liquids and a group of 21 solids). About 65% could classify liquids correctly, 50% could classify rigid materials correctly,…

The broad focus of this study was on the role students' existing conceptions play in the process of constructing and understanding mechanics concepts. The study was a naturalistic one, conducted over a number of years, at all grade levels, in one all-boys secondary school in Australia. In particular it was concerned with identifying and…

As part of a larger study on the levels experienced by deaf children in acquiring knowledge about printed letters, words, and stories, an investigation was undertaken to discover the effects of a reciprocal teaching method on deaf children's learning of four prereading skills--finger spelling, book reading, story reciting, and word recognition.…

The papers presented in these proceedings are organized into seven categories: (1) number and number operations (13 papers); (2) spatial representation and geometrical understanding (10 papers); (3) developing and/or using models of mathematical learning (15 papers); (4) mathematical concept formation (17 papers); (5) the mathematical learning…

Findings are reported from two descriptive studies of preservice teacher education students' conceptual change in response to reading methods instruction. The first study, involving 14 preservice teachers, focused on how students applied what was taught in the reading methods course; the second study (14 participants) examined students' conceptual…

Using such ethnographic techniques as interviews, classroom observations, and videotape recordings, a study explored the impact of two kindergarten teachers' theoretical orientations to literacy (whole language versus mechanics/skills) on children's developing concepts of writing. Data analysis revealed that children in a communication/whole…

This publication is intended for those who wish to design or evaluate a map and globe skills program across several grade levels. The introduction discusses general considerations underlying effective map and globe skills instruction. A grade-by-grade outline of a map and globe skills program provides recommendations for the following categories:…

Three studies of children at two developmental levels were made to assess subjects' understanding of the verbal terms "easy" (to do) and "hard" (to do). Such understanding was studied in the context of statements about personal competence at depicted activities. Behavioral criteria of levels of understanding were employed;…

This eight-chapter book clearly presents a theory of how children learn and, therefore, how teachers and others can help children think about science as well as other topics. Its ideas and techniques may be adopted for preschoolers when objects are conceptually ordered, or for theoretical physicists when findings are conceptually organized. In…

This study attempts to determine whether there exists a negative interconnection between the creative and testable nature-of-science (NOS) conceptions in college students' conceptual ecology by investigating, through a pair of IHV-assisted teaching experiments, the effect of raising the status of each NOS conception in students' conceptual ecology…

Teachers working with a language experience approach to reading may use word-sorting activities as a means of exploring the letter/sound concepts and semantic concepts that children are forming. Using words that are already in a child's reading vocabulary, words that the child has made into sight vocabulary, and words that the child has requested…