The Learning Cycle contains three phases. In the exploration phase, students construct shared understanding of critical characteristics of a concept. The teacher introduces a concept in the concept introduction phase. The application phase introduces activities to extend the concept. Includes five concept activities. (SAH)

Delineates the factors mediating the translation of preservice teachers' conceptions of the nature of science into instructional planning and classroom practice. Assesses the influence of temporally separating teaching preservice teachers about the nature of science and teaching them how to address it instructionally. (Contains 42 references.)…

Incorporates a proportional approach for percent problem solving within an instructional program on percent. Indicates that the method was readily adopted by eighth-grade students and helped them experience success in percent problem solving, with percent problem solving proficiency maintained over a delayed period. Hypothesizes that the method…

Focuses on images of energy that may help to construct key scientific concepts. Analyzes interpretations given by students of documents containing images evoking ideas that are seldom visually explained within a theoretical semiotic frame. Confirms the utility of this frame and suggests some abilities needed for students to correctly interpret…

Investigates the metacognitive development of students in a second year chemical engineering course which had such development as an explicit goal. Concludes, among other results, that there is a shift in student approach from a focus on solving problems towards a stronger valuing of conceptual understanding. (Author/MM)

Three experiments examined how 4- to 10-year-olds' domain knowledge and observation of exemplars interact during concept acquisition and how exposure to novel exemplars causes knowledge revision. In all experiments, prior knowledge and exemplar observation independently influenced children's categorization judgments. Use of prior knowledge was…

Investigates the changes in students' understanding of chemistry concepts when concept mapping is used as an instructional method and assessment technique. (Contains 24 references.) (YDS)

Documents students' use of Cabri-Geometry to work on tasks that led them to construct particular relationships and explore and connect different mathematical themes or ideas. (Author/MM)

Reports on an investigation of the status of procedural knowledge in chemistry among students entering into bridging programs at two South African universities. Findings show that students overall tend to repeat in order to get a recurring reading. Very few students were able to use a line of best fit for a set of graphical data. Discusses…

Introduces the learning cycle method in the context of biology instruction. Includes a theoretical rationale for its use as well as a brief review of key studies that have found it effective. (Author/MM)

Introduces the Workshop Biology Project which is based on conceptual change by confronting students' conceptions and inquiry based science context. (Contains 24 references.) (Author/YDS)

Reports on a study which followed a preservice teacher in his attempts to design and deliver conceptual change chemistry instruction in the context of an action research project. Identifies influences that impacted teaching for conceptual changes. (Author/MM)

Introduces a special issue of the Journal of the Learning Sciences on methodology in learning sciences. Focuses on how one begins to account for learning and the potential of a learning context to support learning. (Author/MM)

Advances a methodology for capturing and tracing the emergence, evolution, and diffusion of a practice, conceptual understanding, resource, or student-constructed artifact. Presents the Constructing Networks of Action-Relevant Episodes (CN-ARE) methodology which allows researchers to identify relevant data from a complex, evolving environment, and…

Describes the AQA AS-level course 'Science for Public Understanding' and explains its underlying rationale. Shows how a topic-based course can be used to consolidate students' understanding of some scientific explanations and ideas-about-science in a systematic manner. (Author/MM)