To become an efficient reader of subject matter in geography, students need to have adequate background information to read the ensuing content. Vocabulary considerations thoroughly enter into the reading act. A major problem for the teacher when students read geographical content is to develop meaning. To assist students in reading and…

According to a 1996 study by the National Center for Education Statistics, 75% of America's colleges offer remedial courses and 29% of first-time freshmen take them. Community colleges typically spend more on remedial education than do four-year institutions, and they are anticipating increased demand for such programs. The study cites Howard…

To probe beyond declarative knowledge about real numbers in secondary school, the authors interviewed students in Grades 9, 10 and 12. The main question seems to be whether the length of a decimal expansion is "indefinite" or "infinite." It blurs the mental representation of rational numbers as well. (Contains 3 footnotes.) [For complete…

The objective of this study was to investigate the emergence of a "mindy" (a unit of mind). The mindy is characterized as an open, organized, discrete, and kinematic mental shape. The study was the sequel to research on the emergence of mental shape (R. Laassonen, 1993). The subjects were 84 students, aged 13 to 16 years and…

A study was conducted to inquire into serial and parallel relations of information processing. A hypothesis was derived from earlier studies, and it was assumed that serial processing exceeds parallel processing in time. A figure-type test was constructed with two items. The reliability of the measure was examined with the coefficient of…

This paper investigates the need for the infusion of critical thinking instruction into the teaching of the journalistic practice of questioning. Given research done in the area of questioning, it seems probable that critical thinking instruction could enable students to employ self-directed thinking skills that would allow them to ask better…

This research study examines the nature of socio-cognitive influences on general chemistry students' learning and success. In this study, "learning" means gaining critical thinking skills and "success" means good academic grades. From a social constructivist and postmodern perspective, learning and success are considered functions of enculturation…

This is an age of backlash, as illustrated by many developments in the field of education. Backlash against performance assessment is very evident, but it must be remembered that backlash has its uses. It forces advocates to rethink, reformulate, and restate why they put so much faith in the program under attack. Events have pushed advocates to…

This document contains the following full and short papers on cognition and conceptual change from ICCE/ICCAI 2000 (International Conference on Computers in Education/International Conference on Computer-Assisted Instruction): (1) "A Method of Creating Counterexamples by Using Error-Based Simulation" (Tomoya Horiguchi and Tsukasa…

There is a popular view that arithmetic is only a collection of dull algorithms containing no interesting ideas. However, if one goes a little below the surface, it will become apparent that there are many fascinating ideas waiting to be discovered. The paper tries to show that mathematical ideas can be recognized and understood without the use of…

This study examines whether working memory capacity, a construct of current information processing theory, correlates with fluent foreign language (L2) speech production. It is based on M. Daneman's study (1991), who found significant correlation between individuals' working memory capacity and the fluency with which they can speak their first…

This book features a comparative study of American and Chinese mathematics teachers. How teachers understand the content of mathematics and their practice of mathematics teaching is examined. The differences between Chinese and U.S. teachers' knowledge of mathematics for teaching are documented, and how Chinese teachers' understanding of…

This paper examines the ways that intentions are formed in classroom interaction. The setting is an English lesson at a maritime institute, and the topic is the grounding of a freighter. The formation of intentions is seen as an interaction phenomenon. A systematic approach is adapted on mental phenomena. In this approach psychological phenomena,…

Self-regulation has long been seen as a desirable but difficult to achieve instructional aim. This is particularly true of online learning, where users have limited instructional support and where attrition rates tend to be greater than in face-to-face teaching. This paper examines the nature of self-regulation, identifying affective and cognitive…

This paper discusses the design and pedagogy underpinning the use of online quiz items in which students are presented with a range of questions designed to enhance understanding of complex linguistic constructions. It explores the design of different types of quiz questions from the perspective of pedagogy and cognitive demand. The particular…