Contends that the concept of description educators present in their art criticism models differs from the concept of description in ordinary language; instead, it is a technical concept borrowed from the literature of aesthetics. Delineates differences between each concept, describes how the confusion arose, and discusses implications for art…

Focuses on students' ideas of average in differing contexts from two perspectives, one of which reflects the structural complexity of concepts as they are expressed and the other which documents the prevalence of ideas associated with three common mathematical measures of average--mean, median, and mode. (Contains 35 references.) (ASK)

Adresses student understanding of quantum phenomenon. (Author/CCM)

Importance of temperament continues to spur interest in research. This article examines unresolved conceptual issues in the measurement of temperament. Despite many psychometric problems and conceptual shortcomings of measures derived from various perspectives that are available to assess temperament, the constructs themselves have important…

Recommends the use of an instructional strategy that is ideal for examining students' conceptions of the nature of science. Defines cooperative controversy as a situation in which one person's ideas, information, conclusions, theories, or opinions are incompatible with those of another. (DDR)

The learning organization concept is the lowest of a three-stage hierarchy of learning-wisdom-enlightenment. This sequence is related to the evolution of the human mind from prepersonal to personal to transpersonal. (SK)

Examines relations between changes in the beliefs of individual students and the distribution of beliefs in the classroom. Suggests that the conceptual environment is an indicator of the conceptual tension in a group. Shows that conceptual change of individuals does not necessarily result in changes in the classroom conceptual environment, and…

Presents examples and case studies of statistical reasoning, thinking, and intuition that may arise in perception of randomness and in particular for random walks. Explores the relationship between art and science through various notions for the statistical concepts of randomness. (Author/MKR)

Examines relationships between structural characteristics of students' concept maps about chemical equilibrium and independent measures of their achievement in chemistry. Results indicate significant relationships between multidimensional scaling coordinates and test scores of recall of knowledge and its application and also reveal structural…

Five experiments tested the development of conceptual categories by familiarizing infants to objects in a category and presenting them with an object in a different category. Infants' responses indicated that infants at 7 to 11 months categorized animals, vehicles, and furniture; at 11 months, plants and kitchen utensils; and at 9 to 11 months,…

Examines the distinctions and interrelations between necessary and contingent knowledge and relates these concepts to the distinction between scientific and empirical validity. Considers how these distinctions can be applied to an understanding of morality, arguing for a relational rather than absolutist approach to questions of necessity. (JPB)

Maintains that there are core-specific and non-core-specific domains of knowledge, but that only the core-specific domains benefit from innate skeletal structures. Asserts that core skeletal domains are universally shared, even though their particular foci may vary. Emphasizes that individuals vary in terms of the noncore domains they acquire.…

Finnish fifth-graders (n=26) used materials to explore balance and counterweights. Analysis of interview data revealed how they expressed technological concepts, acquired analytic skills, and synthesized technological thinking. Their technology work focused on making meaningful connections between what things are for and how they work. (Contains…

Examined causal status effect (weighing cause features more than effect features in categorization). Presented adults and 7- to 9-year-olds animal descriptions wherein one feature caused two others. Asked which transfer item was more likely an example of novel animal. Found that both groups preferred an animal with a cause and an effect feature…

Focuses on children creating representations on paper for situations that change over time. Articulates the distinction between homogeneous and heterogeneous spaces and reflects on children's tendency to create hybrids between them. (Author/MM)