Investigated the influence of socioeconomic status and work experience on Egyptian children's development of economic concepts. Found that (1) Egyptian children's developmental pattern is comparable to that of children from other cultures, and (2) socioeconomic status is more significant than work experience as a source of conceptual variation…

Argues for a broader conceptualization of deception, one that may lead to a fuller understanding of the phenomenon. Explores the concept by examining students' reaction to words denoting various aspects of deception. Concludes that deceptive communication involves a broad network of concepts and implies more than just lying. (PD)

Reports findings from a study that investigated preschool children's concepts about reading. Offers suggestions for adults who guide young children through their early experiences with print. (FL)

Explores some of the story concepts evident in children's story retellings and story writings. (FL)

Demonstrates that there are important conceptual distinctions among the constructs of reticence, shyness, communication apprehension, and unwillingness to communicate. Argues that the failure to recognize the distinctions impedes research and precludes improved methods of identifying the problems and improving treatment. (PD)

Do the characteristics of English, as presently conceived warrant the position of importance in the average curriculum that English now commands? Might not another concept of language prove more fruitful for instructional purposes and more relevant to present conditions? Author attempts to answer these questions. (Author/RK)

Attempts a definition of the word "cadre" and discusses the "cadre" as the transitory expression of a society in transition. (Text is in French.) (AM)

Secondary and college level students were queried as to which fundamental physics concepts were the most difficult to understand. Concepts reported as most difficult included: difference between mass and weight, magnification, indirection, the idea of fields, and potential difference. (SL)

The work of Jean Piaget stresses the point that intellectual functioning and growth from one stage of cognitive development to the next depends more on the quality of one's experience than on exposure to factual knowledge. Piaget's theoretical model and its implications and applications for the classroom teacher are reviewed. (Editor/RK)

This research explored the defining characteristics of first- and third-grade children in conceptualizing 17 American kin terms. The data indicate that even when children were able to identify a relationship, they did not all base their identification on the same attributes. (Author/RM)

This paper considers a group of preservice teachers' construction of concept maps derived from y = x + 5 and y = [pi]x[squared] with emphasis on their conceptual understanding of function. The two statements are perceived to represent a number of different concepts with indications of compartmentalized knowledge structures that might prevent the…

This paper discusses the use of proportional reasoning and the mathematics of space to help bridge the gap from secondary school to university while stimulating the interest and mathematical appetite of a diverse student population. The five goals of NASA's Mission Mathematics program are adopted. An interactive lesson used with freshmen…

One of the aims of mathematics instruction is to achieve the understanding of mathematical concepts through the development of rich and well organized cognitive representations (Goldin, 1998; NCTM, 2000; DeWindt-King, & Goldin, 2003). In this study the term representation is interpreted as the tool used for representing mathematical ideas such…

In this paper, we investigate the predominance of the linear model in 12-13 year old Cypriot students, while solving non-proportional word problems involving area and volume of rectangular figures. Using three different kinds of tests related to the context of the word problems presented we attempt to identify a differentiation in students…

In this report, we give a sociocultural account of the mediating functions handheld graphing calculators and social interaction play in students' mathematical understanding. We discuss the evolution of students' abilities to symbolize, model, and develop collective mathematical practices about polynomial inequalities in instrumented activity. In…