Reviews theories of cognitive development to show that most basic writers are operating below the true-concept formation stage and have difficulty in "decentering"; suggests writing assignments based on inference-drawing to remedy the situation. (DD)

Describes a process of chunking information whereby information is clustered into more compact thought units, such as phrases or clauses, and is then reformed into increasingly larger units of information. Notes that this technique is useful in aiding students to read subject area material. (MKM)

Analyzes the meaning of Piaget's concept of abstraction and provides discussion of some of its shortcomings. (HM)

Discusses some of the misconceptions school children may have in their study of heat and temperature and attempts to clarify the concepts of temperature and to contrast it with the use of the term heat. The choice of gas thermometers as the standard temperature scale is also discussed. (HM)

Classroom related topics discussed are: cryptics and statistics; understanding absolute value; recognizing quadratic equations with no real roots; and two derivations of a formula for finding the distance from a point to a line. (MP)

In order to test the hypothesis that the ability to form verbal concepts would increase with age, a test for verbal concept formation was developed and administered to 668 children between the ages of 4 and 9. By varying sentences that describe nonsense figures, 4 variables were systematically explored. (MS)

One hundred and thirty-eight post-graduate students enrolled in a Diploma in Education course were tested for their ability to conserve weight and volume. A methodological criticism of the earlier work of Elkind (1962) and Towler & Wheatley (1971) is offered which casts doubt on the extremely high proportion of non-conservers of volume reported in…

Article states that abstract thought and immediate self-representation or consciousness of "being-in-the-world" are not mutually exclusive, and that the integration of past with present, future or possible with actual, etc., enhances the immediacy of experiencing. (RW)

Investigates the prediction that the usual superiority of pictures over words for repetitions of the same items would disappear for items that were different instances of repeated categories. (Author/RK)

Two experiments were carried out in order to test the effects of task sequence on the speed of rule learning and problem solving. Experiment I involved numerical rule-learning tasks and Experiment II tested the effect of task difficulty and task precedence using problem-solving tasks. (Editor/RK)

Groups of formally educated and of uneducated rural Kpelle tribesman and children were given conceptual learning problems. The finding that education proved to have no significant effect on rule learning for either a conjunctive or a disjunctive rule is interpreted as indicating that formal education exerts its influence primarily on the way in…

Describes a paper-and-pencil activity that helps students understand DNA sequencing and expands student understanding of DNA structure, replication, and gel electrophoresis. Appropriate for advanced biology students who are familiar with the Sanger method. (DDR)

Recounts the perspectives of several biologists who believe that evolutionary theory is the key to an understanding of biology. Cites examples from textbooks and educational practices which support the theory that many students develop and maintain misconceptions about evolution due to instruction. Contains 53 references. (DDR)

Research on conceptual change emphasizes the importance of factors in the cognitive domain. This research argues that models of conceptual change learning should also encompass issues of affect, conation, and self-esteem. The use of these expressions is explained via four case studies on members of a rural village concerning informal learning…

This study investigates student misconceptions in the areas of continent, ocean, permanence of ocean basins, continental drift, Earth's magnetic field, and plates and plate motions. A teaching-learning model was designed based on a constructivist approach. Results show that students held a substantial number of misconceptions. (Author/DKM)