Examines both theoretical and practical perspectives on conceptual exchange--exchanging a student's entrenched view on a scientific topic for one based on actual scientific perspective. Endorses the conceptual-mediation model based on interference theory for changing an established view. (AIM)

Demonstrates how social constructivism has affected conceptual change research, and draws implications for reading and writing instruction from conceptual change research using social constructivism as a theoretical framework. Discuss why conceptual change researchers turned to social constructivism as a theoretical framework for their research.…

Describes science-related questions asked by young students aged 4-6. Discusses appropriate responses to typical science questions. (WRM)

Helen Gunter's "Rethinking Education: the Consequences of Jurassic Management" (1997) tackles the relevance of fashionable school management practices. Educational management has become a huge, lucrative multimedia enterprise that promotes management language and culture at the expense of pedagogy, professional collegiality, and scrutiny…

Challenges the message of "biopsychiatry," the belief that all mental illness is biologically based, genetic in origin, and incurable, and can only be treated chemically. Suggests that the epidemic drugging of school-age children is an act of despair. Highlights one family's experience in getting appropriate treatment without medication for their…

Challenges some commonly-held beliefs about what primary children can and cannot learn about astronomy. (Contains 16 references.) (Author/WRM)

Argues that declarative writing about science that presents historical or biographical information incorrectly is not acceptable. (WRM)

Finds that only half of practicing science teachers and a third of pre-service teachers surveyed in Singapore agreed with statements that biological evolution has a valid scientific basis. (Contains 12 references.) (WRM)

Describes a simple 16-item instrument, the Propositional Logic Test (PLT), that is based on Piagetian theory and a study that explored the use of the PLT in diagnosing student misunderstandings. Analysis of individual student responses revealed a number of systematic errors in interpreting the logical operations in the PLT items. (Contains 23…

Discusses environmental hazards, the problems of misinformation and contradictory information, and the problems for children in sorting out fact from hearsay. Includes tips for protecting children from environmental hazards and describes a program at the University of Washington that develops curriculum materials and other teacher resources. (PVD)

This article investigates some of the antecedent conditions underlying the imputation of autonomy within conceptions of "teaching" and "learning". It links the history of those concepts with the separate roles and functions assigned to males and females in specific instances of educational practice. "Teaching" and "learning" are psychoanalysed as…

This research was conducted to examine the conditions under which learner-generated illustrations serve as an instructional strategy promoting conceptual change. Specifically, the nature of students' misconceptions and the effects of student-generated descriptive drawings on conceptual understanding of scientific principles associated with the law…

This study examined university engineering and physical science students' misconceptions of the nature of magnetic field. It is assumed that a significant knowledge of the sources of magnetic field is a basic prerequisite when students have to think about electromagnetic phenomena. To analyze students' conceptions, we have taken into account the…

This study focuses on the conceptions of trainee, primary, and subject teachers about three phenomena: the motion of objects, seasonal changes, and aggregate changes of matter. A total of 198 participants completed a questionnaire concerning two types of tasks. First, teachers evaluated the adequacy of a given explanation as compared to their…

Very little information exists about children's prior knowledge and thinking (including misconceptions) about transportation, a topic commonly taught in elementary social studies. To develop such information, individual interviews were conducted with 96 K-3 students, stratified according to grade level, achievement level, and gender. The students…