Although traditional age college students have been the focus of HIV/AIDS education programs, considerably less attention has been given to reentry college students. The results of this study indicated reentry students have a good understanding of how HIV is transmitted but less knowledge regarding populations that are at risk. (BF)

Recent research documents students' misconceptions about key math and science ideas, parochial views of history, and tendency to reduce complex literary works to stereotypes. To improve understanding, learners should focus on activities asking them to generalize, find new examples, and apply principles thoughtfully. Teachers should pursue…

This article aims to present the results obtained from science teachers about their attitudes toward students' conceptions and the use of teaching strategies based on these conceptions. The results may contribute to the planning of inservice courses. (Author)

Discusses new Australian education policies, highlighting emerging educational forms and ways that education, markets, and new technologies are commingling in postmodern world. In commodifying the curriculum, "Captains of Educational Consciousness" and their corporate allies do not acknowledge postmodernity's downside: environmental…

Criticizes an anti-inclusion article by Smelter, Bradley, and Yudewitz in the September 1994 issue of "Kappan" for its misguided conclusions. In light of today's heterogeneous classrooms, the authors' assumptions about regular-education teachers' capabilities are both faulty and insulting. All children learn best in regular classrooms…

Presents findings from a case study into the development of student understanding of chemical bonding. Reveals significant progression in student understanding but also highlights issues of how such progression should be addressed. Emphasizes factors associated with blocks to appropriate concept development. (33 references) (Author/MKR)

Proposes causal field theory as a model of causal reasoning. Suggests that anomaly detection through comparison with natural events triggers causal reasoning. This anomaly is interpreted in terms of agency; therefore, natural phenomena can be understood through an appeal to agency. The mechanism proposed never changes with development, whereas…

Examines the role of social interaction as a facilitator of learning in general and conceptual change in particular. Three conditions are proposed as necessary for social interaction to facilitate knowledge construction--horizontal information, comparable domain knowledge, and availability of cognitive tools. Suggests that these conditions assure…

Describes a project in which Austrian and Hungarian students learned how people see each other by creating video pictures and letters of their neighbors (alien images) that were returned with corrections (self-images). Discussion includes student critiques, impressions, and misconceptions. (AEF)

Discusses 10 misconceptions that publishers have about libraries. Issues include library book budgets; purchasing paperbacks, multiple copies, best sellers versus reference books, and books as opposed to software/hardware; sources of information on new publications; promotional events; and different functions of libraries and bookstores. (JKP)

Carried out an investigation to identify conceptions of some components of worldview held by science student teachers (n=48) in a South African context. Explores relationships among worldviews, student characteristics, and scientific concepts. Reports that students' conceptions of time and distance were nonmechanistic and psychologically bound and…

Systemic approaches like outcome-based education can't accommodate the common good of rural areas; rural scholars are rightly skeptical of "the one best system" and supporting technologies. Educators should also question new technologies (distance education, computer-assisted instruction, and telecommunications) promising an even more…

Graphical representations of geometrical objects from high school textbooks are categorized according to the implicit conventions underlying their display. The fact that specific illustrations can lead to students' misconceptions about geometric objects is analyzed in relationship to the principle of parallel projection with implications for the…

Educational reform typically includes modifications in testing. The article discusses misconceptions about testing and reform, noting reform involves changing test structure or increasing amounts of testing. To provide accountability within educational reform, curriculum must be unified nationally, statewide, or locally because students cannot be…

Discusses teacher knowledge of nature of science. Asserts this is aspect of science content knowledge frequently neglected in teacher education. Differentiates between positivism and postpositivism. Describes textbook's role in fostering student misconceptions of nature of science. Suggests students be given chance to carry out their own…