Interviews with 4- to 8-year olds indicated that children's understanding of how it is that they can see object develops gradually. This article presents a map of this development in terms of two distinct modes of cognitive functioning, the ikonic mode and concrete symbolic mode, drawn from the interviews and the SOLO (Structure of Learning…

Describes the role of research in designing ScienceWorks, an innovative gallery at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. The gallery was constructed on the basis of existing and new research on how children think and learn about science. The gallery is atypical in several respects but perhaps most fundamentally in its overarching agenda to foster…

Teachers of 9 and 10 year olds were found to use varied versions of lessons that increase conceptual understanding. Their effectiveness in supporting conceptual understanding was compared experimentally. Findings and implications for science teaching are discussed. (Author/DKM)

Studies the conceptual changes and factors affecting eighth- grade physical science students (n=180) investigating elementary thermodynamics. Classifies three types of students regarding their learning methods: converging, progressing, and oscillating. Reports that original intuitive conceptions are difficult to change and that students engaged in…

Presents a questionnaire devised to assess students' understanding of statistical variation. Carries out three stages of the analysis of outcomes: (1) a hierarchical coding scheme; (2) a Rasch analysis; and (3) a holistic model of development. Illustrates the range of student responses and possible rubrics for teacher use. (Author/KHR)

Reviews literature on resilience relevant to adolescents with the aim of examining the various uses of the term, and commenting on how specific ways of conceptualizing resilience may help develop new research agendas. Seeks to explicate core elements of resilience, in the hope that greater conceptual clarity will lead to a range of tailored…

Investigates the effects of learning material construction on concept learning while aiming for students to acquire the basic concepts of electricity and magnetism. Reports that concept learning of electricity and magnetism is influenced by the hierarchical structure of learning materials, not by sequence. (Contains 14 references.) (Author/YDS)

Presents an activity that uses phosphorescent stars to help students understand the wave and particle nature of light. Discusses star phosphorescence, the emission spectrum of the stars, and the photoelectric effect. (DDR)

Explores the ethical issues involved in transcribing, and argues that transcribing is a situated act within a study embedded in a conceptual ecology of a discipline. Emphasizes that transcribing is a political act reflecting a discipline's conventions and a researcher's conceptualization of a phenomenon, research goals, and underlying theories.…

Proposes a conceptual framework for analyzing students' knowledge of programming. The idea is to integrate three types of programming knowledge from educational computing literature with three forms of knowledge from cognitive psychology literature. A study is described that determined types of knowledge required to answer exam questions, and…

Tested E. E. Sweetser's (1987) model of lying, which emphasizes critical contribution of social factors to definitions of lie. Presented vignettes to 12-, 16-, and 19-year olds--half with prototypic lie-telling, half with truth-telling--and asked them to indicate degree of agreement that statement was a lie. Found that effects of age, help-harm…

Presents the results of a study that identifies misconceptions in chemistry by means of a two-tier diagnostic instrument. Data indicate that similar misconceptions are held by both Singaporean and Australian populations. Focuses on covalent bonding and structure. (DDR)

Describes the conceptual bases of two different approaches to a language of invention and synthetic thinking as applied to commonplace inventions such as the chair: first, a conceptual history based on the gradual accretion of complexity, and second, a modern account based on the principles of engineering design. (DB)

Describes an interpretive program called Stroller Strut at an arboretum aimed at very young children. The program encourages children to use all five senses in experiencing the arboretum. (MM)

Considers the possibility of simplifying academic knowledge, and of taking its aesthetic dimension seriously, and the implications this may have for education. Suggests principles for simplifying knowledge and provides examples from mathematics and statistics to illustrate how ideas and methods can be simplified to assist with the problems of the…