Abstract: This paper revisits the problem of terminology in the study of student conceptions in science. Progress on the resolution of the problem is reviewed first. Then, an analysis is performed on the knowledge of science subdividing it into components such as disciplinary, curricular, experiential, and personal knowledge. An attempt is then made to analyze how these four components of knowledge might interact in research settings to produce different contexts. Based on these analyses, it is suggested that the appropriateness of a particular term as a descriptor of science knowledge might be dependent on specific research contexts that science education researchers need to make more explicit. It seems misconceptions, alternative conceptions, and knowledge can coexist within each research context. How they might do this, and researchers¹ inferences about them, including underlying thought processes need to be documented. Remediation strategies would then vary with each type of conceptions and with each context.
Keywords: philosophy,Concept formation,,epistemology,scientific concepts,cognitive structures,misconceptions,constructivism,learning processes
General School Subject: biological sciences
Specific School Subject: biology
Students: secondary school
Macintosh File Name: Abimbola - Terminology
Adjusted File Name: Abimbola-Terminology.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: There are many different graphic knowledge representation techniques which are called concept maps. These and similar techniques are scrutinized and a comparison table with eight categories is suggested. The first dimension with four categories is conceptual and propositional explicitness. The second dimension with two categories is whether or not pictures are utilized. Criteria for good concept maps are discussed. A quick way to teach concept mapping is presented. Examples of concept maps are analyzed. Structure of Vee diagrams is discussed and possible improvements are suggested. When we read concept maps and Vee diagrams, we understand them proposition by proposition. Most of these propositions, if not all of them, are claims about the world. It is often unclear if these claims have any evidence, any theoretical or empirical grounds, any specific justification or any general backing. Rhetorical argumentation analysis (RAA) is presented and discussed. A suggestion is made to interview those subjects who make concept maps and Vee diagrams and to analyze their accounts by RAA.
Keywords: Research Methodology,Educational Methods,Theories,Scientific Methodology,Concept Mapping,Educational Thoeries,Realism,Epistemology,Constructivism
General School Subject: Chemistry
Specific School Subject: Inorganic Chemistry
Students: Adult
Macintosh File Name: Ahlberg - Meaningful Learnin
Adjusted File Name: Ahlberg-MeaningfulLearnin.sit.hqx
Abstract: The importance of the teachers to know and take into account the pupils´ concep tions as the starting point in teaching is well recognised from numerous studies. This knowledge is needed because only when the teachers realize what their pupils´ really think about various phenomena and how little effect the traditional teaching indepen dent of its quality has on the pupils´ understanding, they start to experiment with new teaching strategies. The area of heat and temperature is very useful in this respect ( see e.g. Brook et al., 1984; Erickson and Tiberghien, 1985, Osborne and Freyberg, 1985). The pupils have met most of the thermal phenomena in their everyday life, their use of the scientific terms is mixed with everyday meanings, and they also think they know all about these familiar phenomena. Scott et al. (1992) have reviewed teaching strategies used to promote conceptual change. They have identified two main groupings, of which the one is based on cognitive conflict and the other on the development with the science point of view. The latter strat egy focuses on the design of appropriate interventions by the teachers to provide ³scaffoldings² for new ways of thinking. Stavy (1991) refers to the paper by Schollum et al. (1981) who in teaching about force started their instruction based on the conception held by many children that objects move forward because there is ³something² in them that keeps them moving. They introduced the idea of momentum for this ³something², and subsequently the term force for pushes and pulls that act on objects. Stavy (1991) herself reports about the study in which the students discarded their misconception about conservation of matter in the case of the evaporation of colourless acetone when they were first shown the evaporation of visible iodine. The study reported in this paper is one of the first attempts to find out what kind of conceptions the Finnish secondary school students (from 7th to 9th grade, 14 to 16 years of age) have about thermal phenomena. According to the curriculum heat is taught as a subject partly in the seventh and partly in the ninth grade. The changes in the state of water have been discussed in biology in the third grade with the guidance of a class teacher. The research problem could be stated as, What kind of aspects do the pupils pay attention to in the connection of melting, boiling and heat exchange? Is there any indica tion about the similar type of confusion between the concepts of temperature and heat as there is between the concepts of momentum and force? The ultimate aim would be to find a possible order for teaching thermal concepts and phenomena.
Keywords: concept formation,,,misconceptions,scientific concepts,concept teaching,,,
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: thermodynamics
Students: middle class students
Macintosh File Name: Ahtee - Thermal
Adjusted File Name: Ahtee-Thermal.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper is a report of a study conducted with preservice elementary teachers at the University of Wyoming during the summer of 1993. The study had two purposes: (1) to observe the effectiveness of using a constructivist approach in teaching mathematics to preservice elementary teachers, and (2) to focus on teaching probability using a constructivist approach. The study was conducted by one instructor in one class, The Theory of Arithmetic II, a required mathematics class for preservice elementary teachers.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Teacher Education,Concept Formation,Constructivist Teaching,Preservice Teacher Education,Problem Solving,Classroom Techniques,Mathematical Concepts,Teacher Education Programs
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Probability
Students: College
Macintosh File Name: Alsup - Probability
Adjusted File Name: Alsup-Probability.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The premise of this paper is that children are active learners who engage in meaningful learning when a situation of interest presents itself. Children form mental models or personal constructs of how they perceive the world in which they live, the world does not create these constructs for them. As Kelly (1955) explains, constructs are individually built and "tried on for size" as one views the world of events. These constructs are sometimes categorized into groups of systems consisting of subordinate, coordinate, and superordinate relationships. They are used to forecast events and to assess the accuracy of the events after they have occurred. In the scientific world of play and school, children constantly test their interpretations of the world and revise their mental models or personal constructs as they experience and test alternative explanations throughout their lives.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,,Cognitive Mapping,Constructivism,Concept Formation,,,
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Biology
Students: Elementary School
Macintosh File Name: Alvarez - Play & School
Adjusted File Name: Alvarez-PlaySchool.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The division of the process of photosynthesis into a "light phase" and a "dark phase" is a well established presentation of the functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus. This division can be traced to important points in the history of photosynthesis research. Consequently it is also the way the subject is presented in textbooks and taught. From psychological, didactical and scientific points of view this division into "light" and "dark" phases is fully justified: In the light ATP and NADPH2 are produced and oxygen is released. Subsequently the products of the light phase are utilized to fix carbon dioxide. The light reactions occur in the thylakoid membranes whereas the so called dark reactions proceed in the soluble part of the chloroplast - the Stroma. The light phase can experimentally be separated from the dark phase as shown by Hill (1937).
Keywords: misconceptions,concept teaching,,history of science,textbooks,,,,
General School Subject: biology
Specific School Subject: photosynthesis
Students: high school
Macintosh File Name: Amir - Photosynthesis
Adjusted File Name: Amir-Photosynthesis.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Chinese science education has achieved significant goals, but it can be improved by introducing appropriate technology. IBM¹s Personal Science Laboratory (PSL) is a promising new system that is enthusiastically supported by American science instructors. The instructional method of Chinese science education and the PSL¹s instructional model are introduced. Elements of the Chinese method are analyzed against American educators experience using the PSL system. Finally, the historical and cultural framework surrounding Chinese education and suggestions for introducing the PSL are presented.
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Macintosh File Name: An - Science Education
Adjusted File Name: An-ScienceEducation.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This case study details the planning and teaching of a unit of work on light for a class of 8-9 year olds in a British primary school and the learning which ensued. It is one of a series of studies, involving collaborative work between teachers and researchers, in which teaching is planned utilising information about children's thinking on aspects of science, together with theoretical perspectives on conceptual development or change.The focus of this paper is on how the planning of a piece of teaching was transformed into classroom action. The children in the study had previously had no formal teaching on the topic of light; activities were planned to provide opportunities for them to construct elements of a theoretical model of the behaviour of light and to utilise this in the exploration and explanation of a familiar phenomenon, shadows. The ways in which children's thinking was stimulated and supported and the learning outcomes are discussed and the crucial role of the teacher is highlighted.
Keywords: Research Methodology,Educational Medthods,Comcept Formation,Participatory Research,Curriculum Design,,,,
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Optics
Students: Elementary School
Macintosh File Name: Asoko - Light
Adjusted File Name: Asoko-Light.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This session presents efforts to develop metacognitive skills in mathematics learning. These skills are seen in current research not only as necessary conditions but also critical for learning mathematics. Current research in the area of metacognition and mathematics education supports the belief that metacognitive skills are a needed condition for learning mathematics. Metacognition is viewed as important not only in problem solving but in all mathematics performance. The study of metacognition argues for a change from the traditional, teacher-centered instruction to instruction addressing cognition metacognitively. Examples of this new educational trend include cooperative learning activities, the promotion of reflective thinking through discussion and writing, and the development of self-regulation. In an effort to create self-awareness and promote independent learning in their mathematics learning, students can be actively engaged in their learning by whole class or small group discussions, writing activities, and self-monitoring tasks. In an effort to identify misconceptions of these methods currently in use in the mathematical setting, and the belief that these methods are not applicable in mathematics, this presentation will describe the activities used in each of these categories.
Keywords: Educational Methods, Testing,Concept Formation, Teaching Methods,Metacognition,Motivation Techniques,Learning Processes,Group Testing,Thinking Skills
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Algebra
Students: High Risk Students
Macintosh File Name: Autin - Math
Adjusted File Name: Autin-Math.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Traditionally, physics is taught in high schools according to domains: mechanics, electricity, magnetism, optics, etc. A survey of 30 textbooks from all over the world indicates that 20 of the textbooks present each domain as a completely isolated unit. As a result, students studying from such textbooks are exposed to domains in physics serially, i.e., one after the other.Our studies and those of others (Bagno, Eylon & Ganiel, 1993; Van Heuvelen, 1991; Iran-Nejad, McKeachie & Berliner, 1990; Bicak & Bicak, 1990; Anderson & Botticelli, 1990; Burkhard, 1987; Perry & Miller, 1970) have shown that knowledge acquired by students studying in this manner is fragmented. Students lack a knowledge structure containing the relationships between the central concepts of physics and between the various studied topics. In addition, it is known that students encounter various difficulties both in comprehending basic concepts and also in applying acquired knowledge to problem solving (e.g., de Jong & Ferguson-Hessler, 1986; Eylon & Reif, 1984; Heller & Reif, 1984). In the long term, the knowledge of many of the students deteriorates into a number of partial equations and the concepts are represented by meaningless labels.
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Macintosh File Name: Bagno - Physics
Adjusted File Name: Bagno-Physics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract:
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Teacher Education,Concept Fromation,Misconceptions,Concept Teaching,Concept Mapping,Learning Processes,Teaching for Conceptual Change
General School Subject: History / Teacher Training Practice
Specific School Subject: History
Students: College
Macintosh File Name: Baldissera - History
Adjusted File Name: Baldissera-History.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In this study the construction of children's pre-instructed ideas regarding the fundamental concepts of gravity, air and magnetic attraction is investigated. Our research deals with the question : "Do children think that magnetic attraction needs air as a conducting medium?". It is informed by the Constructivist approach to science education which started with Kelly (1971), who stated that "Man understands himself, his surroundings and his potentialities by devising constructs to place upon them and then testing the utility of these constructs against such criteria as the successful prediction and control of events..." Guttierrez and Ogborn (1992) suggest similarly that people invent explanations because they seek causes for effects they see in the environment. This approach supposes the existence of the learner's pre-instructed ideas. Instances of pre-instructed ideas concerning specific scientific concepts such as air, force or weight, are already noted by Piaget (1929, 1972), at the beginning of the century. Since then many researchers have delved into children's pre-instructed ideas (Pfundt and Duit, 1990; Carmichael, Watts, Driver, Holding, Phillips and Twigger, 1990). The interest of science educators in children's intuitive ideas has been significantly motivated by Ausubel's learning theory (1968) where the importance of the learner's prior knowledge in influencing his understanding of new material is stressed. Similarly, Di Sessa (1988) in his "knowledge in pieces" theory notes the relevance of children's pre-instructed ideas to the learning process. Minstrell (1992) as well as Clement(1982) also emphasize the effect of existing pieces of knowledge on further learning, where the application of these pieces is dependent on the student's perception of the salient features of a specific problem.
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Macintosh File Name: Bar - Air
Adjusted File Name: Bar-Air.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The use of Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) for chemistry is not prevalent in Israel and only few teachers use this tool to improve teaching. The research determines the effects of in-service training and teachers¹ self-developed mini-courseware on broadening CAI use for chemistry. It involves follow-up of in-service teacher training aimed at strengthening the confidence of the chemistry teacher in his/her ability to use computers in the classroom. To introduce the teachers to the variety of possibilities and benefits of using courseware in chemistry, we have developed a CAI module on polymers. It may serve for mastery learning, enrichment material, and as a source of problems and their solutions. As part of the training. each team developed a mini-courseware.As a research tool, the teachers answered pre- and post-attitude questionnaires regarding the use of computers for chemistry teaching in general, and the polymer module in particular. The questionnaires have indicated a positive change in teachers' attitudes towards CAI . The feedback on the polymer module was also very favorable. The results indicate that teachers' attitude towards computers and the rate of using computers can be positively changed by an in-service training. Teachers prefer CAI modules that can be integrated into the existing curriculum.
Keywords: Educational Technology,Teacher Education,Educational methods,Computer Uses in Education,Inservice Teacher Education,Educational Strategies,Courseware,Learning Modules,
General School Subject: Chemistry
Specific School Subject: Polymers/ Organic Chemistry
Students: High School
Macintosh File Name: Barnea - Chemistry
Adjusted File Name: Barnea-Chemistry.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: On the morning of June 28, 1992, many individuals experienced the devastating power of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Subsequently, even the popular press (Nash, 1992) described in detail how the Landers and associated earthquakes were possibly impacting the southernmost section of the San Andreas fault. The triangular segment that was uplifted 2m vertically and 5m horizontally had not been predicted. For the next few weeks, words such as fault, epicenter, seismograph, and Richter scale appeared in many news reports. Once again, the populace became interested in earthquakes and plate tectonics. Did they have an adequate cognitive structure to understand these events?
Keywords: Concept Formation,,,Misconceptions,Content Analysis,Pilot Projects,,,
General School Subject: Earth Science
Specific School Subject: Plate Tectonics
Students: College Students
Macintosh File Name: Barrow - Earthquakes
Adjusted File Name: Barrow-Earthquakes.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract:
Keywords: Problem Solving,Metacognition,Cognitive Ability,Vee Diagramming,Educational Strategies,Individual Diffrences,Timed Test,Problem Sets,Predictive Measurement
General School Subject: Information Science
Specific School Subject: Physics
Students: High School
Macintosh File Name: Bascones - Physics
Adjusted File Name: Bascones-Physics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper describes a study conducted to explore Year 12 (16-17 year olds) students' cognitive functioning in the domain of probability in an endeavour to discover what it means to know/understand the elementary notions of probability. Leinhardt's (1988) theory of understanding as connections between the four knowledge types (intuitive, concrete, computational and principled conceptual) served as the model for examining the students' understanding of elementary probability. The research design incorporated two pilot studies and a main study and, altogether, 31 students participated. Each student was clinically interviewed whilst working on a set of elementary probability tasks which were developed for the study. The protocols revealed that the students had used a variety of cognitive schema for example, fraction (part/whole), ratio (part/part), and comparison (whole/whole) but, in general, those who performed best used the fraction schema predominantly. Several misconceptions were disclosed. For example, P = 1 was connected with either one trial in an experiment or with one item in a sample space; P = 2 was acceptable; possible was synonymous with certain; ratios were confused with fractions.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Theories,Epistemology,Mathematical Concepts,Cognitive Structures,Cognitive Processes,Misconceptions,Cognitive Psychology,Concept Formation
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Probability
Students: High School Seniors
Macintosh File Name: Baturo - Probability
Adjusted File Name: Baturo-Probability.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Recent work has uncovered a consistent set of student difficulties with graphs of position, velocity, and acceleration versus time. These include graph as picture errors, slope/height confusion, problems finding the slopes of lines not passing through the origin, and the inability to interpret the meaning of the area under various graph curves. For this particular study, data from 895 students at the high school and college level was collected. Individual test items were examined to reveal common difficulties. The test as a whole should prove useful for other researchers studying kinematics learning as well as instructors teaching the material. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No. MDR-9154127.
Keywords: concept formation,testing,educational methods,mathematical concepts,misconceptions,concept teaching,error patterns,item analysis,teaching methods
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: mechanics
Students: college bound
Macintosh File Name: Beichner - Misunderstandings
Adjusted File Name: Beichner-Misunderstandings.sit.hqx
Abstract:
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Macintosh File Name: Bendall - Geometrical Optics
Adjusted File Name: Bendall-GeometricalOptics.sit.hqx
Abstract: I have tried to understand the ways in which evolutionary knowledge has changed on its way from Down House, the home of Charles Darwin, to its presentation to Brazilian high-school students. Adopting a socio-cultural perspective, attention was given to several different ways Charles Darwin's theories have been re-interpreted by well known scholars and offered to the public. I have analyzed the approaches taken by Emanuel Radl (1873-1942), John C. Greene, Robert Maxwell Young and Ernst Mayr, to assess the diverse ways darwinism has been conceived. I have then assessed the presentation of this controversial knowledge to the public in two major popular books written by respected scientists, Julian Huxley and Kettlewell's "Darwin and His World" and Richard Dawkins' more recent "The Blind Watchmaker".In this paper I focused on the ways some key-concepts have been treated, trying to show that knowledge has been shaped by extra-scientific factors.Following the tendency of seeing chronologies of the development of scientific knowledge as "myths of rationalism" (Wertsch), I have called the constellations of these myths social reconceptualizations, which would occur in different levels, in a hierarchical way.Students at high-school level have contact with several of these "myths", which could possibly account for some of the traditional misconceptions that have been recurrently reported.
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Macintosh File Name: Bizzo - Evolutionary Biology
Adjusted File Name: Bizzo-EvolutionaryBiology.sit.hqx
Abstract: At present the problem of introducing topics of "modern" physics in Italian high school is the object of a wide debate among teachers and researchers in physics education. As regards special relativity, the debate is supported by projects and experimentation carried out since the seventies (Cortini G. 1977, Fabri E. 1989). It seems appropriate to introduce special relativity in high school for the following reasons: cultural value of this theory; possibility of dealing with its basic concepts without a sophisticated mathematic approach and of promoting a deep involvement of students; pedagogical value of experiencing the passage from one scientific theory to a new one, and importance of recognising how a physics theory can be, in particular aspects, in contrast with common sense and every day experience.
Keywords: Theories,Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Relativity,Abstract Reasoning,Scientific Concepts,Curriculum Design,Instructional Development,Preservice Teacher Education
General School Subject: Science
Specific School Subject: Physics
Students: High School
Macintosh File Name: Borghi - Special Relativity
Adjusted File Name: Borghi-SpecialRelativity.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: During my first years of teaching activity in the University my attention was focused, imperceptibly, by the most capable students of my classroom (I only had knowledge then ...). As time went by and, perhaps, half-way in my history, my interest moved towards those students showing the lowest performances (I had already gained experience ...). At present, after a long way gone through, I choose (full consciously) to put all my enthusiam on those students who, even having a learning potential, seem to have not found the means to develop such potential.
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Macintosh File Name: Braghiroli - Method Deficiency
Adjusted File Name: Braghiroli-MethodDeficien.sit.hqx
Abstract: In the early 1970s, research in science education began to focus on the conceptual learning process that lies behind students¹ thinking in particular science domains. Much research has been done and is still being done in understanding students¹ science ideas. These studies show that students coming into a learning environment bring their own conceptions of the world (Osborne, 1984; Engel & Driver, 1986; Solomon, 1985; Gil-Perez & Carrascosa, 1990). Despite what teachers teach about science, many students maintain their early and alternative conceptions of the natural world for several years and even into adulthood. These ideas are constructed by children through their perceptive experiences in daily life. These concepts that children use to explain natural events with respect to their own experiences make sense to them and are therefore difficult for a teacher to change. The ideas students possess prior to formal instruction are considered the single most important factor influencing learning (Ausubel, 1968). Concept learning studies can aid curriculum developers in designing curricula and instructional materials that begin with what students already know and explicitly contrast children¹s ideas with scientific explanations (Eaton, Anderson, & Smith, 1983).
Keywords: Concept Formation,Research Methodology,Educational Methods,Misconceptions,Cognitive Development,Cognitive Ability,Qualitative Research,Curriculum Design,
General School Subject: Earth Science
Specific School Subject:
Students: Elementary School
Macintosh File Name: Broadstock - Earth Systems
Adjusted File Name: Broadstock-EarthSystems.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Ecology is a unique field of science in which several factors effect the type, variety and number of student misconceptions. Among these factors are: ecology is a relatively new scientific discipline, it is interdisciplinary, and it describes many phenomena with which we have experience. This paper reviews the strategies used to elicit students' understandings of ecology, analysis of several prevalent student misconceptions, and several instructional activities that help address specific misconceptions. The identification of misconceptions through clinical interviews, concept maps and multiple choice questions is reviewed and discussed in relation to what teachers can do to continually identify and monitor student misconceptions. Specific ecological misconceptions related to breathing in aquatic organisms, photosynthesis in marine plants, and the water cycle are concept mapped showing important relationships to related physical and biological science concepts. These concept maps present fundamental topics which must be identified in order to help address student misconceptions Several instructional activities which attempt to address these misconceptions including The Water Circle, Molecules in Motion and Classroom Aquaria are described and discussed in relation to specific instructional design.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Concept Formation,Research Methodology,Misconceptions,Curriculum Design,Qualitative Research,Instructional Design,Conept Mapping,Concept Formation
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Ecology
Students: Junior High
Macintosh File Name: Brody - Misconceptions Ecology
Adjusted File Name: Brody-MisconceptionsEcolo.sit.hqx
Abstract:
Keywords: Teacher Education,Research Methodology,Concept Formation,In-service Teacher Education,Qualitative Research,Abstract Reasoning,Misconceptions,Teacher Education Programmes,
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Genetics
Students: Student teachers
Macintosh File Name: Brosnan - Discussion
Adjusted File Name: Brosnan-Discussion.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract:
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,,Misconceptions,Learning Processes,Experimental Learning,Curriculum Design,,
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Electricity
Students: High School
Macintosh File Name: Brown - Analogical Models
Adjusted File Name: Brown-AnalogicalModels.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Regulation and homeostasis are vital functions in living systems. Understanding these concepts can be considered as an essential element in biological literacy (Demastes & Wandersee, 1992). However, up to now neither tradition nor theory seems to exist about how to arrange biology education on the concept of homeostasis.This paper , firstly, reports the results of a survey carried out to describe and to analyze the status of the concept of homeostasis in scientific biology. If one of the aims of biology education is to show the specific nature of the discipline it is necessary to have at hand an updated 'state of the discipline', serving as a source of information on the subject matter. Secondly, views on teaching and learning are elaborated, starting from a constructivistic educational approach. This section focusses on the crucial role of pre-knowledge in learning processes, and on consequences of this approach for decision making on an intended curriculum. It implies that the students' own ideas about regulation and homeostasis are important and are used as a starting point and bridgehead for further developing their insight and understanding Furthermore, we report on exploring students' personal knowledge about the existing concepts, using their status and structure in scientific biology as a reference. Outcomes are important for making decisions about both the disciplinary content and the educational strategies to be used in classrooms.A next step will be developing curriculum materials on the topic. These materials are intended to support implementation of a new programme for biology education at secondary level in The Netherlands. During the pioneering phase with these materials in biology classrooms, data will be collected on individual and collective knowledge acquisition, following the students over a period of about three months.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Concept Formation,Philosophy,Constructivism,Holistic Approach,Curriculum Design,Learning Strategies,Misconceptions,Field Studies
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Biology
Students: High School ( pre-university level)
Macintosh File Name: Buddingh - Biology
Adjusted File Name: Buddingh-Biology.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: We present how unskilled workers and staff employees understand everyday situations where static electricity or electricity at home is involved. The method of data gathering was clinical interviews based on situations relative to static electricity in cars or in an electronic assembly workshop, to the functioning of a circuit-tester and a washing machine. Different cases were discussed (e.g.: electric shocks, short circuits, and so on). The analysis was made in the framework of mental models used to describe these situations. In spite of electricity lessons in their school time and/or in-service training in their companies, the subjects made no reference to formalized electricity. The models they used were built up from their own experience. Often electricity is considered as a substance or a fluid easily transferable from one place to another. Conceptions about grounding show that the earth is assimilated to a big reservoir into which electricity flows and then is lost. Human body is also considered as a reservoir of a limited amount of electricity.
Keywords: Concept Formation,,,Misconceptions,Cognitive Structures,Cognitive Processes,Scientific Concepts,,
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject:
Students: Adults
Macintosh File Name: Caillot - Electricity
Adjusted File Name: Caillot-Electricity.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The new Costa Rican science program, with its emphasis on local evironmental content may create additoinal problems for experienced and novice elementary school science student teachers who work hard designing and implementing science lessons that engage their students and teach accurate science concepts. This is especially true for those elementary school student teachers who have a limited knowledge of science. While sdditional study in the sciences is helpful, it is virtually impossible to prepare a general elementary school student teacher for all the science topics they will encounter in Costa Ricas's new elementary school science program. Three current educational ideas form the foudation of this study: 1.- cognitive research; 2.- research on change and implementing innovations; 3.- and research on student teacher education.
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Macintosh File Name: Calvo - Teacher Education
Adjusted File Name: Calvo-TeacherEducation.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The ability of a student to visualize functions is an important aspect of a mathematics education. Graphing calculators can quickly display the graphs of functions and evaluate function values. Such efficiency can contribute to explorations of families of functions. Therefore, graphing calculators have a major role, albeit not yet clearly defined or fully assessed, in the mathematics classroom today. Mathematics educators are faced with instructional technology issues as never before. An intrinsic concern is how, or if, the use of graphing calculator contributes to student understanding of mathematics content. This paper describes some results of assessing the use of graphing calculators in selected sections of college algebra and calculus in a two-year college for three consecutive quarters. The rationale for requiring these hand-held computers is outlined. Calculator assignments and student writing assignments are described. The data from paired student-teacher interviews conducted outside of class is reported.
Keywords: educational technology,educational methods,concept formation,computer uses in education,mathematical concepts,educational strategies,learning activities,informal assessment,cognitive dissonance
General School Subject: matematics
Specific School Subject: algebra/calculus
Students: two year college
Macintosh File Name: Carson - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Carson-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The terms concept and misconception need to be clarified in light of constructivist epistemology. Are misconceptions possible under the tenets of radical constructivism? If not, what terms are more appropriate to designate the needed coincidence of internally constructed knowledge with experiential reality and consensual social discourse. Conceptual meanings are social constructs defined by discourse communities. An individual¹s conceptual knowledge is useful only if the personal mental construct gives the person the adequate knowledge necessary to make predictions that will coincide with experiential reality. As an individual¹s perception and construction of knowledge evolves, so scientific paradigms, which contain ³concepts² as socially constructed knowledge evolve. The exploration of the nature of representation and symbolism in constructing knowledge and the question of what is real should be a part of constructivist educational pedagogy. In order to bring constructivism into a well defined educational paradigm the careful examination and specific use of terminology must be determined by the discourse community. A discussion of these issues using illustrations will be the focus of this presentation.
Keywords: Philosophy,Conept Formation,Theories,Educational Philosophy,Constructivism,Epistemology,Cognitive Processes,Creativity,School Restructuring
General School Subject: General
Specific School Subject:
Students: General
Macintosh File Name: Carter-Cohn - Photograph
Adjusted File Name: Carter-Cohn-Photograph.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: To use the theories of artificial intelligence and cognitive science in designing the intelligent computer-assisted instruction (ICAI) systems is a challenging job with much research value. This research collected different types of error patterns that novice learners had during computer programming. These error patterns were analyzed and categorized. The misconception of semantic errors during the programming were also analyzed. The outcome will serve as the base knowlege for computer programming ICAI system design.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Testing,,Misconceptions,Error Patterns,,,,
General School Subject: Information Science
Specific School Subject: Programming
Students: College Freshmen
Macintosh File Name: Chang - Basic Programming
Adjusted File Name: Chang-BasicProgramming.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Among students and many people in the wider community, physics is perceived as a discipline which emphasises the acquisition of rules, theorems, procedures and skills in highly abstracted forms at the expense of meaningful integration of knowledge with technology and everyday occurrences (Romer, 1993). Assessment methods reinforce this approach with success in examinations being heavily dependent on factual recall and rote learning. The situation is similar in the traditional undergraduate laboratory. Many student physics laboratories reveal a history of the teacher as the sole source of a body of knowledge which is transmitted to students through controlled verification exercises (Hegarty-Hazel, 1986;1990). There is little or no encouragement for independent investigation or scientific enquiry. Students are rarely asked to explore a phenomenon, develop a procedure, design or construct apparatus or formulate tests on scientific models. The learning experiences do not seem to be characterised by recognition of the student as a learner, by student autonomy or, by students¹ reflecting on their learning. Overall, it seems that students have a very narrow range of learning experiences in physics laboratories and a poor appreciation of the role of physics in industry and everyday life.
Keywords: educational methods,concept formation,theories,inquiry,problem solving,experimental learning,scientific concepts,thinking skills,scientific methodology
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject:
Students: undergratuate
Macintosh File Name: Cheary - Physics
Adjusted File Name: Cheary-Physics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract:
Keywords: educational methods,theories,,cognitive development,cognitive styles,educational theories,,,
General School Subject: information science
Specific School Subject: medicines
Students: education majors
Macintosh File Name: Chen - Natural Science
Adjusted File Name: Chen-NaturalScience.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In the past decade, there have been ample interests in the assessment of cognitive and affective processes and products for the purposes of meaningful learning. Meaningful measurement has been proposed which is in accordance with a humanistic constructivist information-processing perspective. Students' responses to the assessment tasks are evaluated according to an item response measurement model, together with a hypothesized model detailing the progressive forms of knowing/competence under examination. There is a possibility of incorporating student errors and alternative frameworks into these evaluation procedures. Meaningful measurement drives us to examine the composite concepts of "ability" and "difficulty". Under the rubric of meaningful measurement, validity assessment (i.e. internal and external validities) is essentially the same as an inquiry into the meanings afforded by the measurements. Reliability, measured in terms of standard errors of measurement, is guaranteed within acceptable limits if testing validity is secured. Further evidences of validity may be provided by indepth analyses of how "epistemic subjects" of different levels of competence and proficiency engage in different types of assessment tasks, where affective and metacognitive behaviors may be examined as well. These ways of undertaking MM can be codified by proposing a three-level conceptualization of MM, where reliability and validity are central issues for an explication of this conceptualization.
Keywords: Testing,Philosophy,Educational Methods,Constructivism,Humanism,Construct Validity,Scaling,Cognitive Processes,Problem Solving
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Algebra
Students: College
Macintosh File Name: Cheung - Measurement
Adjusted File Name: Cheung-Measurement.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper identifies and characterizes the existence of a specific class of ³constructs² which may be particularly difficult to learn and understand. Their difficulty necessitates conceptual change, which is a form of learning which we define in the context of this class of constructs. Our explanation seems to fit a diverse set of data concerning the difficulty in learning science concepts of this nature. Instructional implications for how we can overcome this barrier to conceptual change will also be entertained.
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Macintosh File Name: Chi - Conceptual Change
Adjusted File Name: Chi-ConceptualChange.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Many science educators have advocated the use of anomalous data--data that contradict students' preinstructional theories--to promote theory change. Many students, however, discount anomalous data so as to preserve their current theories. In order to understand the process of theory change in science classes, it is essential to understand students' responses to anomalous data. The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for under standing how people respond to anomalous data and why they respond as they do. First, I present a taxonomy of seven responses to anomalous data: (a) ignoring the data, (b) rejecting the data, (c) excluding the data from the domain of the current theory, (d) holding the data in abeyance, (e) reinterpreting the data, (f) peripheral theory change, and (g) theory change. Second, I present an analysis of nine factors that are hypothesized to influence which of these seven responses an individual will choose. I support these analyses with evidence from the history of science, from psychology, and from science education.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Research Methodology,Cognitive Processes,Change Strategies,Learning Processes,Cognitive Psychology,Epistemology,Cognitive Restructuring
General School Subject: Geology, Paleontology
Specific School Subject: NA
Students: Undergraduate Students
Macintosh File Name: Chinn - Theory Change
Adjusted File Name: Chinn-TheoryChange.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In this study, I examined intuitive conceptions in geometry, focusing on their origins, uses, and interactions. Data included audio taped interviews of sixteen middle school students during pre- and post-tests. When asked to rank several paths between two points according to length, these students invoked four intuitive criteria: compression, detour, complexity, and straightness. My analysis of their explanations suggests that these intuitive conceptions originated from everyday experiences (such as motion).The students productively applied these intuitions to simple comparisons of paths (e.g. straight line vs. staircase), but spontaneously recognized their inadequacy for more difficult comparisons. Then, I taught them a new strategy: rearranging the linear pieces of the paths into horizontal and vertical components. In their post-test with additional paths three weeks later, most students continued to use their intuitions. After recognizing their inadequacy again, they independently and successfully applied their new strategy.In both pre- and post-tests, many students invoked multiple intuitions when comparing two paths. They tried to resolve these intuitions' interactions by ranking them and by integrating them.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Philosophy,,Misconceptions,Cognitive Structure,Constructivism,,,
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Geometry
Students: Junior High School
Macintosh File Name: Chiu - Lines
Adjusted File Name: Chiu-Lines.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Until recently, common instructional strategies and materials in the Korean middle school science classes have been primarily designed on the basis of learning models implied in behavioral psychology. As well known, behavioral psychology is the counterpart of various forms of positivistic epistemology(Margolis, 1984). Positivism implicitly suggests that scientific knowledge can be transmitted as it is from the cognitively systematized head of teacher to the undifferentiated or tabula rasa head of learner. In accordance with this tacit assumption, behavioral psychologists have proposed a mastery teaching model which consists of three general steps of instruction as follows: informing students the materials to be taught, verification of the information by the students through observation, and application of the knowledge acquired (Cosgrove & Osborne, 1985). Called conceptual formation and/or differentiation model by Ausubel et al.(1978), this teaching process presupposes that systematic lecture is one of the most usable teaching strategies in any science class and under any learning circumstance.
Keywords: educational methods,concept formation,theories,teaching methods,learning strategies,misconceptions,cognitive restructuring,learning theories,scientific concepts
General School Subject: chemistry & geology
Specific School Subject: inorganic chemistry
Students: secondary school
Macintosh File Name: Cho - Instructional Strategies
Adjusted File Name: Cho-InstructionalStrategi.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper describes some of the major features of a set of units for dealing with students' preconceptions in mechanics. These units are being published in a curriculum guide book for teachers (Camp and Clement, et al, in press). The book is not a textbook but rather collection of lesson plans that specifically targets some of the most difficult areas in mechanics. The lessons use instructional techniques such as constructing visualizable explanatory models, class discussions of the validity of an analogy between a target problem and an anchoring intuition, and forming a structured chain of intermediate bridging analogies. The experimental group achieved pre-post test gains that were significantly larger than the control group's gains in each area. It is argued that: (1) rational methods using analogy and other non-empirical plausible reasoning processes can play a very important role in science instruction; (2) much more effort than is usually allocated should be focused on helping students to make sense of an analogy; and (3) researchers and curriculum developers should be focusing at least as much attention on students' useful prior knowledge and reasoning processes as they are on students' alternative conceptions.
Keywords: concept formation,educational methods,,cognitive restructuring,cognitive dissonance,learning strategies,constructional design,cognitive structures, misconceptions
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: mechanics
Students: high school
Macintosh File Name: Clement - Mechanics
Adjusted File Name: Clement-Mechanics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Recently, Southeast Missouri State University redesigned its program for elementary education majors. Physical Science: A Process Approach is the name given to the physical science component of a unique sequence of four courses. The course employs the process approach and develops the course material in chemistry and physics with particular attention to those areas of content taught in the Core Competencies and Key Skills, state objectives for Missouri public schools. The learning cycle is used as a model to help students formulate ideas through hands-on classroom activities. The development of the course, its subject matter, teaching strategies, and student evaluations are discussed.
Keywords: concept formation,Educational methods,teacher education,scientific concepts,teaching methods ,curriculum design,,,
General School Subject: chemistry
Specific School Subject: physics
Students: education majors
Macintosh File Name: Coleman - Physical Science
Adjusted File Name: Coleman-PhysicalScience.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In this paper I describe a program I have begun to identify misconceptions about astronomy and to understand their origins and how they are replaced with new concepts. I begin by describing the protocols used for each part of the project. The data for this work comes from undergraduate college students at the University of Maine who take the (non-mathematical) Introductory Astronomy course I teach. In three semesters of this work 396 students have so far participated in the misconception-gathering part of the program. Of these, seventy-five were also involved in focus groups and writing about the origins and replacement of their misconceptions. Of the 5,500 misconceptions stated by the cohort, I have identified 553 separate misconceptions. Many of these misconceptions are described in various contexts below. I end by presenting a set of internal and external origins of these misconceptions I have derived from the lists and from the focus groups.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Research Methodology,Scientific Concepts,Misconceptions ,Thinking Skills,Metacognition,Pilot Projects,
General School Subject: Information Science
Specific School Subject: Astronomy
Students: Undergraduate
Macintosh File Name: Comins - Astronomy
Adjusted File Name: Comins-Astronomy.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This presentation will report on two studies: (1) a cross-sectional study of children¹s understanding of equals and equivalence; and (2) a longitudinal study of children¹s proficiency with two-digit mental addition and subtraction. The first study found that children tended to hold a variety of meanings for equals depending on the context in which it was met, and to have a particlar unfamiliarity with the equivalence property of reflexivity and with equals as an operator, The second study identified and classified effective and inneffective mental computation strategies around the three perspectives of approach, process and calculation. In both studies, the children¹s incomplete and unproficient behaviours can be related to narrow conceptions and inneffective strategies, which in turn can be explained in terms of lack of knowledge and poor thinking processes. However, the two studies provided some evidence that, at times, children may have knowledge and thinking processes adequate for the situation, but not acitivate them because of the action of an inhibitor. This presentation will focus on one form of inhibitor, viz.,negative processing (Cooper, 1987), its role in misconceptions and implications for remedial instruction. It will discuss similar notions, e.g. the critic of Brown & van Lehn (1980), and provide examples of negative processing in children¹s responses to equals and computation situations.
Keywords: concept formation,Theories,Epistemology,Mathematical Concepts,Cognitive Structures,Cognitive Processes,Misconceptions,Cognitive Psychology,Concept Formation
General School Subject: mathematics
Specific School Subject: Algebra
Students: Years 1-10 (5-15 years old)
Macintosh File Name: Cooper - Arithmetic
Adjusted File Name: Cooper-Arithmetic.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper is concerned with the description of the knowledge of 'cubação', a peculiar method of measuring land used by peasants in Brazil. A geometrical formulation of such a knowledge is given, and implications for mathematics and schooling are raised. Research in Science Education has very largely treated knowledge from an essentially individual point of view. In this work, however, knowledge is regarded as a social entity realized in individual discursive action. Knowing becomes being a participant in a discourse and to possess knowledge is turned into to be able to operate a certain kind of discursive process. One argument raised in the paper is that communal knowledge can be supposed to have a large tacit component; and, as such, it does have structuring rules which are not consciously available to those who are regarded as operating within them. Commonsense relates to knowledge at the level of this 'fundamental structure'. The attempt to formalize 'cubação' had then, to face the methodological problem of inferring tacit structures from interviewing data.
Keywords: concept formation,teacher education,educational methods,thinking skills,concept formation,mathematical concepts,teaching for conceptual change,cognitive structures ,logic
General School Subject: mathematics
Specific School Subject: geometry
Students: elementary school
Macintosh File Name: Dal Pian - Cubação
Adjusted File Name: DalPian-Cubacao.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This presentation demonstrates and discusses a computer based instructional tool to teach various types of biology. in particular microbiology, that incorporates principles of concept mapping with electronic access to graphics, text and laser video disc material. The HyperCard application presents the learning strategy of concept mapping in detail, provides a bibliography, shows examples of maps, teaches the user how to identify key components of concept mapping, and lets the user design his own concept map from a list of selected concepts arranged about several general topics of microbiology.
Keywords: E. Tech, computer assisted instruction, multimedia,E. Methods, empowering students,concept mapping,Computer assisted instruction,multimedia instruction,concept mapping,empowering students,learning strategies ,
General School Subject: biology
Specific School Subject: microbiology
Students: two year college students
Macintosh File Name: De Groot - Concept Mapping
Adjusted File Name: DeGroot-ConceptMapping.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This presentation demonstrates and discusses a computer based instructional tool to teach various types of biology. in particular microbiology, that incorporates principles of concept mapping with electronic access to graphics, text and laser video disc material. The HyperCard application presents the learning strategy of concept mapping in detail, provides a bibliography, shows examples of maps, teaches the user how to identify key components of concept mapping, and lets the user design his own concept map from a list of selected concepts arranged about several general topics of microbiology.
Keywords: E. Tech, computer assisted instruction, multimedia,E. Methods, empowering students,concept mapping,Computer assisted instruction,multimedia instruction,concept mapping,empowering students,learning strategies ,
General School Subject: biology
Specific School Subject: microbiology
Students: two year college students
Macintosh File Name: De Groot - Microbiology
Adjusted File Name: DeGroot-Microbiology.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: A technique was developed that invited and encouraged pupils to write down their questions during science lessons. The results showed that pupils did have questions to ask and were able to write them down during class. Most of the questions were meaningful and at a higher cognitive level than typical oral ones.The educational potential of pupils' written questions was explored. It was found that pupils' questions could be used positively as teaching/learning tools. Teachers were able to adjust their approach to improve individual pupils' learning. It also helped teachers to be more reflective about their own practice and self-diagnose the daily teaching and learning in their classes.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Teacher Education,Research Methodology,Classroom Techniques,Naturalistic Observations,Motivation Techniques,Preservice Teacher Education,Constructivist Teaching,Learning Strategies
General School Subject: Chemistry & Physics
Specific School Subject:
Students: Secondary School & Student Teachers
Macintosh File Name: de Jesus - Science Teaching
Adjusted File Name: deJesus-ScienceTeaching.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The main purpose of the first Physics lab is to teach students good lab practices, including data analysis. We introduce regression analysis (least squares) in a first lab for Physics courses that may be either calculus or noncalculus based. We apply least squares to a series of experiments used for teaching data fitting via the computer and that allow the study of more complicated physical phenomena than a lab usually covers.
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Macintosh File Name: de la Torre - Physics
Adjusted File Name: delaTorre-Physics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In science education a multitude of aims is pursued through practical work (Hofstein and Lunetta, 1982; Woolnough, 1991). Three categories of aims can be distinguished. Cognitive aims pertain to the development of problem solving skills, learning of scientific concepts and understanding of science and the scientific method. Practical aims involve the development of skills in performing investigations, skills in analyzing data and communication and cooperation skills. Affective aims are directed at enhancing attitude and motivation towards science and promoting a positive perception of one's ability to understand and influence the environment.
Keywords: concept formation,educational methods,,cognitive dissonance,misconeptions,cognitive processes,classroom techniques,,
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: mechanics
Students: college freshmen/ high school seniors
Macintosh File Name: Dekkers - Mechanics
Adjusted File Name: Dekkers-Mechanics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Element and mass conservation are integral to the understanding of chemical change. This essay argues that these two conservation claims are not adequately explained by the usual chemical syntheses which students perform in the academic laboratory. The syntheses considered involve the formation of a binary compound from two reacting elements. This type of synthesis is regarded as significant because it is the basis for more complex examples of chemical change. Within this context, element and mass conservation are explained by two different philosophical arguments. Element conservation in a compound is explained by first, the formation of the compound followed by the decomposition of that compound into the initial elements. Mass conservation is explained by quantifying both the reacting elements and compound. For various reasons, many compounds synthesized from elements cannot readily decompose to the elements and/or be completely quantified and therefore, do not adequately justify the conservation claims. Of a sample of 16 chemistry lab manuals that contain this type of synthesis, only one synthesis supports element and mass conservation. The chemicals involved, zinc, iodine and zinc iodide, enable the construction of sound and preferred arguments that could help promote conceptual change of students¹ misconceptions in this subject area.
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Macintosh File Name: DeMeo - Chemical Change
Adjusted File Name: DeMeo-ChemicalChange.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Four problems, tied to the nature of mathematics, to the philosophy of mathematics, to epistemology and to learning theories, plagued mathematics education for years. And they still do. These problems are : - the heavy emphasis put on symbolism and notation (Ginsburg, 1977), - the great influence of formalism (Davis et Hersh, 1980),- the heavy presence of behaviorist learning theories (Dionne, 1988), - the exagerated focus that many teachers put on their pupil's answers instead of on their reasoning (Dionne, 1988).
Keywords: Teacher Education,Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Teaching for Conceptual Change,Constructivist Teaching,Cognitive Processes,Learning Processes,Comprehension,
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Arithmetic
Students: Student Teacher
Macintosh File Name: Dionne - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Dionne-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper discusses the limitations of current methodologies for exploring Œmisconceptions¹ and offers an alternative methodology which integrates various levels of sophistication of conception to describe a continuum of conceptual understanding. This approach recently employed in science education at elementary and junior high school levels used novel instruments (cartoons and short stories) to collect data from some 3000 children. This data was analyzed with item response techniques and continua constructed which allow educators to plan effective instruction for learners whose conceptions cover a range of sophistication, many of which may impede further learning.
Keywords: research methodology,testing,concept formation, measurement techniques,test interpretation,scientific concepts,concept formation,item response theory,constructivism
General School Subject: chemistry
Specific School Subject: physical chemistry
Students: full time students
Macintosh File Name: Doig - Methodology
Adjusted File Name: Doig-Methodology.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Many errors in arithmetical computation are not random or careless; they are learned and have become habitual, and often reveal little about the student¹s conceptual understanding of the computational principle. There is a need to assist students who exhibit habitual computational errors, as errors reflect the student¹s lack of meaningful understanding of the computational procedure. The success, however, of corrective instruction is affected by many factors. These include the educator¹s expertise, the student¹s prior experiences with learning failure, the student¹s response to corrective instruction, the nature of the learning difficulty, the accuracy of the error diagnosis, the relationship between the student and the educator, and primarily, the degree of transfer of learning from the corrective setting to the regular classroom.
Keywords: educational methods,testing,concept formation,error patterns,learning processes,cognitive psychology,mathematical concepts,misconceptions,empowering students
General School Subject: mathematics
Specific School Subject: arithmetic
Students: elementary school
Macintosh File Name: Dole - Subtraction
Adjusted File Name: Dole-Subtraction.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Students of today face many complicated and formidable challenges in education. One imposing modern advance -- our society's increasing dependence on technology -- compels our educational institutions to graduate a well-informed, scientifically literate populace. Today's students must learn how to cope with complex interacting systems and with a rapidly expanding knowledge base. Our schools need to develop instructional methods which not only enable the presentation of factual material, but which also promote the development of techniques for interpreting and handling knowledge. According to Lippert (1987), having cited the National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983), ³Society's future depends on a citizenry that can Œthink and reason creatively and deliberately, develop sound judgments of information, and understand and contend effectively with rapid and constant change...¹ ² (p. 477).
Keywords: Educational Technology,Educational Methods,Concept Formation,Computer Uses in Education,Educational Strategies,Skill Development,Cognitive Development,Problem solving,Thinking Skills
General School Subject: Earth Science
Specific School Subject:
Students: Junior High School
Macintosh File Name: Drahuschak - Graphing Methods
Adjusted File Name: Drahuschak-GraphingMethod.sit.hqx
Abstract: This papers aims at contributing to the discussion on future developments in our research field. In the first part, diagrams are presented that show the number of studies in specific domains of the research field -- mainly over the past 20 years. In the second part the significance of the constructivist view is discussed on the background of recent critiques of this position.Research in the field under review here started with investigating the role of students' pre-instructional conceptions in learning science concepts and principles in the mid '70s. In the beginning it was mainly students' conceptions on the content level which were taken into consideration. A few years later, students' conceptions of a more inclusive kind were regarded (including, for instance, conceptions of science and conceptions of the learning process). As well as this, teachers' conceptions of various kinds were given attention. The constructivist view has been the most important driving force in widening the original narrow perspective. When the term "students' conceptions" is applied in this paper it is embedded in the constructivist framework, i.e. it is employed in the mentioned inclusive way.
Keywords: philosophy,theories,,constructivism,piagetian theory,,,,
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Students:
Macintosh File Name: Duit - Student Conceptions
Adjusted File Name: Duit-StudentConceptions.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The adoption of performance-based or portfolio assessment strategies is a commitment to the reform of education that, by intent, will hopefully extend into the schools and the classroom. By changing the standards of performance expected of children we are indirectly changing the standards of performance expected of curriculum writers, supervisors and teachers. Consequently, changing the procedures and the standards for determining students' success in science will require that these assessment changes be supported by and be evident in changes in the learning environment of classrooms. Most would agree that if the performance assessment is the first instance where a student encounters new expectations and standards of learning, then the system of education for that child is inadequate. It isn't surprising, then, that educational standards initiatives like the New Standards Project are seeking school delivery standards or social contracts with school districts. The basic and compelling issue is what good is raising standards if the curriculum and instructional practices in schools do not contribute to the preparation of students to achieve the new standards.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Teaching for Conceptual Change,Thinking Skills,Empowering Students,Feedback,Informal Assassment,,,
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Fluid Mechanics
Students: Middle School (6,7,8,)
Macintosh File Name: Duschl - Flotation & Bouyancy
Adjusted File Name: Duschl-FlotationBuoyanc.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract:
Keywords: concept formation,,,misconceptions,,,,,
General School Subject: mathematics
Specific School Subject: arithmetic
Students: elementary school
Macintosh File Name: D'Ambrosio - Fractions
Adjusted File Name: D'Ambrosio-Fractions.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Current research on human learning and current knowledge about the processes that humans use to construct new knowledge have resulted in much "problem oriented" study of student conceptions (Driver & Erickson, 1983; Gilbert & Watts, 1983). The instructional strategies that have taken students' conceptions into consideration are known as "constructivist approaches to teaching," a translation of a constructivist perspective of learning to science education (Driver & Bell, 1986; Novak, 1988). These strategies aim at what is often called "conceptual change teaching," generally rooted in constructivist frameworks (West & Pines, 1985).
Keywords: Philosophy,Educational Technology,Teacher Education,Constructivism,Hypermedia,Constructivist Teaching,Cognitive Development,Cognitive Restructuring,Qualitative Research
General School Subject: Chemistry
Specific School Subject: Physical Chemistry
Students: High School Seniors
Macintosh File Name: Ebenezer - Chemistry
Adjusted File Name: Ebenezer-Chemistry.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: As might be expected, instruction in any academic discipline is a matter of making the complex understandable. The usual approach to such a task is to "disassemble" concepts into their component parts, or subconcepts, and to continue doing so until a level of complexity is reached which is commensurate with the intellectual capabilities of those receiving the instruction. The sequence of instruction for conceptual development, therefore, may be considered as resulting from conceptual subdivision on the part of the instructional planner. More often than not, such an instructional sequence is determined by authors of textbook and curriculum materials rather than the classroom teacher. However, effective instruction will frequently require that two conceptualizations be "deconstructed;" the concept to be taught, and the concept already held by the student. The latter, of course, falls squarely within the domain of the classroom teacher to both ascertain and then accommodate.
Keywords: concept formation,educational methods,teacher education,concept formation,misconceptions ,educational strategies,teaching methods,teaching for conceptual change,constructivist teaching
General School Subject: information science
Specific School Subject: elementary science education
Students: elementary
Macintosh File Name: Ebert - Conceptual Development
Adjusted File Name: Ebert-ConceptualDevelopme.sit.hqx
Abstract: The present work stems from an interest in the systematization of concepts in the teaching of Chemistry at Secondary School level, given the presupposition that systematization helps the student to generalize these concepts, a fact which favors the development of theoretical thinking for which the chemical theme "Solutions" was chosen because it finds itself in a privileged position to treat of conceptual questions seen that the study of the dissolving phenomenon, as well as the characteristics of solutions formed by the process require a series of pre-requisite concepts. Solutions, so much a part of everyday life, are an example of how an empirical observation, even if generally yielding a broad range of knowledge, is seen to be insufficient in explaining the origin, development and internal bonds of that which is observed by the senses. Being that as it is, the study of the object of knowledge, in this case, solutions, must be carried out by means of analysis, an abstraction, in complex movement of the human thought process where it operates on a purely conceptual level.
Keywords: concept formation,,,concept formation,scientific concepts,,,,
General School Subject: chemistry
Specific School Subject: physical chemistry
Students: College
Macintosh File Name: Echeverria - Solution
Adjusted File Name: Echeverria-Solution.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: A systematic study of children's ideas on motion was carried out in three countries: Israel (N=631), England (N=383) and Australia (N=357). An open ended questionnaire with four questions about motion was administered to intact classes of pupils from Grade 2 through Grade 12 (ages 7 to 18). The responses were categorized according to level of sophistication. For three of the questions, it appears that children pass through distinct, successive stages with respect to their conceptual understanding. A mathematical model was developed which gives the proportion of children in each stage as a function of age. It predicts that the proportion of subjects at each stage is a linear combination of decreasing exponentials, and it fits the data well.
Keywords: Concept Formation,,,Developmental Stages,Cognitive Development,Fundamental Concepts,Misconceptions,,
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Mechanics
Students: Secondary School
Macintosh File Name: Eckstein - Motion
Adjusted File Name: Eckstein-Motion.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract:
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Macintosh File Name: Eilam - Biology
Adjusted File Name: Eilam-Biology.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: After drawing attention to the growth of interest in different types of classroom activities that involve the writing of mathematics, this paper focuses on the idea that, through writing mathematics, learners can be assisted to monitor their own mathematical thinking. It is argued that the metacognitive advantages deriving from writing in mathematics can be of assistance not only to learners of all ages, but also to teachers in the sense that an analysis of students¹ writing in mathematics can provide a window into the mind of the writer.
Keywords: Educational methods,concept formation,,writing strategies,metacognition,thinking skills,mathematical concepts,learning processes,
General School Subject: mathematics
Specific School Subject:
Students: elementary and secondary
Macintosh File Name: Ellerton - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Ellerton-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This study examines categories of misconceptions that appear frequently in students' written tests on powers and radicals.One hundred sixty eleventh grade students in the scientific track of the academic high school completed a test designed to uncover students' misconceptions in (a) meaning of powers and radicals, (b) operations on powers and radicals (c) relationship between both concepts. Solutions and methods used were analyzed, common misconceptions across students were identified and an investigation into the sources of the misconceptions under study was done through individual interviews with some students identified as having the misconceptions. Results showed that students' misconceptions were derived from:1- Interpreting radicals (when the index is greater than 2) either as powers or as square roots. This category had the highest frequency of misconceptions.2-Applying rules of multiplication of powers.3-Applying rules which are not related to the concepts of powers and radicals such as operations on negative numbers and simplified writing. Results also showed that with the increased use of the rules across the different grade levels the frequency of their incorrect applications decreased.
Keywords: concept formation,testing,theories,misconceptions,error patterns,generalization,mathematical concepts,protocal analysis,behavioral objectives
General School Subject: mathematics
Specific School Subject: algebra
Students: secondary school
Macintosh File Name: Farah-Sarkis - Powers
Adjusted File Name: Farah-Sarkis-Powers.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Recently, a third grade student was asked to explain how the computerized light sensing device he was using in his classroom worked. He confidently replied, "It sucks up light." Upon further questioning, he proceeded to explain that the light is then transported to the computer, where the computer "tells how much [light] there is". When probed still further about what other things might work in the same manner as the light probe worked, the student indicated that the probe worked much like the human eye. "Does your eye suck up light, too?" he was asked. He replied in the affirmative. When asked if it was possible to feel his eye 'sucking up light', the student paused briefly to consider, and then responded. "Yeah," he said, "you know, like when you look up at the light and it hurts."
Keywords: concept formation,educational technology,research methodology,misconceptions,scientific concepts,computer uses in education,courseware,protocol analysis,qualitative research
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject:
Students: elementary school
Macintosh File Name: Farr - Tool & Task
Adjusted File Name: Farr-ToolTask.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Based on experiences with Concept Mapping at Langara College, a theory of information transfer between short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM) is proposed. A neuron-network/mathematical model based on Rummelhart's connectionist theory (1989) is proposed as to identify the process in which elements of LTM encode new incoming information from STM. Information in LTM is viewed in connectionist analogy in which pieces of information are integrated together. Learning is explained via mathematical models presenting changes in connection between incoming STM units and LTM. Relevance (a mathematical/theoretical construct) is proposed as a necessary facilitator for successful integration and accommodation of STM unit(s) by LTM to occur. Each STM information unit must be compatible with its counterpart(s) in LTM in order for successful integration to occur. An STM unit can simultaneously be connected and integrated to descriptive, semantic and declarative memories or episodic memories. More "connections" between the STM unit and different types of memories in LTM increases speed and efficiency of recall. The final section draws a comparison of the theoretical perspective discussed in the paper with the learning process in concept-mapping. The paper ends with suggestions for research, instruction and counselling.
Keywords: Theories,,,Learning Theory,Concept Formation,Cognitive Mapping,,,
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Macintosh File Name: Farrokh - Memory
Adjusted File Name: Farrokh-Memory.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper explores the emerging role of multimedia technology in education with respect to concept-mapping. A brief sketch is made with respect to developments in software and hardware technology with respect to education. The latest technology with potential applications to education, namely virtual reality, is viewed with respect to the role it plays in education. Thereafter, possible applications of virtual reality technology are explored with respect to concept-mapping. The paper ends with a number of conclusions and suggestions with respect to virtual reality and concept-mapping.
Keywords: Educational Technology,,,Learner Controlled Instruction,Educational Innovation,Multimedia Instruction,,,
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Macintosh File Name: Farrokh - Virtual Reality
Adjusted File Name: Farrokh-VirtualReality.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract:
Keywords: theories,concept formation,teacher education,learning theory,linguistic theory,cognitive structures,cognitive processes,teaching for conceptual change,
General School Subject: physics
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Students: student teachers
Macintosh File Name: Ferbar - Science Education
Adjusted File Name: Ferbar-ScienceEducation.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Student teachers were instructed about the construction of concept maps. Both top down and bottom up approaches were presented to them. The students prepared concept maps as exercises. They were divided into two groups. One included the students whose concept maps were top down. The other included the students whose concept-maps were bottom up. These students were also tested for measuring the efficiency of the left and right cerebral hemispheres. We define "the dominance of the right hemisphere" as the difference between the standardized scores on the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere. The dominance of the right hemisphere's values of the members of the two groups were compared by the Mann Whitney test. It was found that the dominance of the right hemisphere of the top down group was larger than that of the bottom up group. This result is significant at p<0.05 in a 2 tailed test. A theoretical explanation of this phenomenon is suggested.
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Macintosh File Name: Fidelman - Concept Maps
Adjusted File Name: Fidelman-ConceptMaps.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract:
Keywords: concept formation,teacher education,educational methods,scientific concepts,misconceptions,teacher background,teacher education programs, change strategies,scientific methodology
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: physics
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Macintosh File Name: Finegold - Models
Adjusted File Name: Finegold-Models.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper will explain difficulties of students during their learning of physics and it will make a proposal to describe students' starting points of adapting the physicist's "true" concepts. Let us start with a characterisation of the term "misconception". To be able to decide if a conception is a misconcept or not the standard has to be the expert's knowledge. As a matter of fact most of the investigations about misconceptions are based upon not only the expert's knowledge but the expert's way of learning, too. Under the headline: what is good for an expert must be good for a student, many units, teaching strategies and so called learning strategies were created which propagated a better way of learning physics. As we understand now there is no best way of learning physics in general. If we go into detail, we have to state that there are many ways of learning physics and that we are able to identify classes of learning pathways which are miles away from the "ideal" one of an expert. Maybe that the first not very deep going description of learning processes gives us some evidence for the existence of misconceptions. But what happens if we use another theory about learning as a microscope? Theories about the individual constructions of knowledge lead us to a point of view which takes the observed student's aims of action as standard, not the expert's. Describing learning processes leads us to categorize types of learners. It is obvious that those categories have to have their roots in a theory about learning in general and not about how an expert solves given problems. One of those theories will be outlined in the following:
Keywords: Learning Processes,Comstructivism,Qualitative Methodology (hermetic content analysis),,,,,,
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject:
Students: grade 10,11 high school
Macintosh File Name: Fischer - Physics
Adjusted File Name: Fischer-Physics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The ability of children to apply scientific concepts to 'everyday' phenomena appears to emerge late in secondary schooling. These acquired concepts, however, must often take their place beside personal beliefs about the world which remain intact despite the numerous cognitive challenges faced by students. One issue confronting classroom practitioners is whether they can facilitate the acquisition of scientific perspectives from within the students¹ constructs by taking full account of the social and cultural factors which may be significant determinants of concept acquisition.This study is a preliminary investigation of concept acquisition across age groups. A questionnaire based on the structure and behaviour of air was used to obtain a Œsnapshot¹ of students¹ ideas in the eight to seventeen age range. The results suggest that formally useful concepts which are introduced early in school curricula may not necessarily be personally useful for many students. Some of the implications for teaching are considered in the light of the crucial role teachers play in helping students to resolve the gulf separating their ideas from the scientific paradigm.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Testing,Research Methodology,Fundamental Concepts,Misconceptions,Data Collection,Data Interpretation,Scientific Concepts,Learning Processes
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Mechanics
Students: Secondary School
Macintosh File Name: Fleming - Air
Adjusted File Name: Fleming-Air.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: A large part of research on Physics and General Science Education has been mainly focused in determining student's previous ideas or preconceptions (Driver, 1989; Viennot, 1979; McCloskey, 1978). Previous ideas present us a set of notions that the student constructed and which are not only his phenomenological referents but rather cognoscitive constructions that are used as a frame for interpretation for other concepts.
Keywords: cognitive structures,concept formation,misconceptions,physics,fluid mechanics,models,,,
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: fluid mechanics
Students: high school seniors
Macintosh File Name: Flores - Flotation & Pressure
Adjusted File Name: Flores-FlotationPressur.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The paper is concerned with the analysis of children's errors in solving mathematical problems. Previous studies in error analysis were reviewed and errors were synthesized which result in a form of deficient or erroneous knowledge network: language, operational, mathematical thematic and psychological types of knowledge. The present study looks into the types of errors made by pupils in the process of solving problems. A schematic model describing the errors made is developed which comprises two levels. The first level is categorized in terms of strategic schemas. With respect to this, five categories of errors are identified: no solution, using irrelevant procedure, incomplete schema with no errors, incomplete schema with errors and complete schema but with errors. The second level is categorized in accordance with the classical ways of classifying errors. The second level is thought to be subsumed under the first level of errors. The paper describes the procedures and the methods which lead to the development of the model on the basis of pupils' schematic knowledge in solving a ratio and proportion problem.
Keywords: Concept formation,research methodology,educational methods,misconceptions,content analysis,task analysis,cognitive processes,problem solving,qualitative research
General School Subject: math
Specific School Subject: ratio & proportion
Students: elementary
Macintosh File Name: Fong - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Fong-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Teacher preparation programs with specific objectives and emphasizing specific skills will yield specific effects on teacher behavior. Observation- and feedback-providing strategies are effective tools for changing teacher behavior. Effective student learning requires appropriate actions on the part of the teacher including the promotion of a classroom environment characterized by good communication and self-analysis procedures. Secondary school science and technology teachers in an in-service program in southern Portugal (N=19) were assigned to one of two conditions. Experimental subjects attended an in-service education program consisting of ten two-hour sessions over a three-month period. Both groups recorded two 15-minute interactions with their students. Two observers coded the recordings for instances of verbal initiating behaviors, verbal responding behaviors and the use of good verbal human relations behaviors. Teachers attending the in-service program exhibited significacntly more human relations behaviors and more responding behaviors than teachers who comprised the control group. The ratio of responding to initiating behaviors was significantly higher in the experimental group. The research extends the findings of other authors to a non-Anglo/American culture. The in-service program was effective in developing interpersonal and self-analysis skills and improved teacher verbal behavior.Please note that this was an oral presentation only.
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Macintosh File Name: Fonseca - Verbal Behavior
Adjusted File Name: Fonseca-VerbalBehavior.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Much misconception research has been published since the mid 1970's. And, some of the suggested "treatments" have been tested in classrooms. However, there appears to be very little published about how teachers have come to understand the misconception literature and how successful they have been in implementing this knowledge in their classrooms. In truth, getting teachers to understand the research itself and then integrating it into their classroom curricula is the most difficult aspect of bringing about conceptual change in students. This paper outlines a graduate science education course for teachers offered at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) that attempts to address the above problem.
Keywords: teacher education,educational methods,concept formation,teaching for conceptual change,instructional development,misconceptions,constructivist teaching,,
General School Subject: all sciences
Specific School Subject:
Students: graduate (teachers)
Macintosh File Name: Furuness - Teacher Education
Adjusted File Name: Furuness-TeacherEducation.sit.hqx
Abstract: In the past several years there has been a significant increase in research dealing with students' misconceptions of science prior to formal instruction (Gilbert & Watts, 1983; McCloskey, Washburn, & Felch, 1983; Fisher, 1985). These previous works show that even after formal instruction misconception will remain and may play a crucial interfering role in the learning of any field of science. What kind of teaching methods should science teacher employ in the classroom?
Keywords: Teaching Method,Cognitive Restructuring,Constructivism,Misconceptions,Metacognition,Comparative Testing,Pretests Posttests,Control Groups,Experimental Groups
General School Subject: Information Science
Specific School Subject: Mechanics
Students: Junior High
Macintosh File Name: Furuya - Force & Motion
Adjusted File Name: Furuya-ForceMotion.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This study examined the influence of five microcomputer-based labs on eight fourth-grade students¹ conceptions of temperature and temperature change. The students were chosen by means of a screening test that was designed to identify those students who held alternate conceptions about the intensive property of temperature and about the influence of volume on the time for warming and cooling common liquids. Data about student conceptions was collected through interviews and transformed into conceptual inventories for presentation and analysis. After MBL there was favorable conceptual change in several areas: fewer students reported that some objects don¹t have a temperature; more students exhibited a correct conception about the intensive property of temperature; students more often reported correct temperatures on thermal equilibrium tasks; and the perceived influence of the role of air in causing temperature change, in determining equilibrium temperature, and in determining the time for temperature change was reduced. Half of the students improved their conceptions about the influence of volume on the time for temperature change. The students did not however, exhibit clear or accurate conceptions about heat, either before or after MBL. Implications for practice are presented.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Educational Technology,Misconceptions,Qualitative Research,Concept Fromation,Computer Uses in Education,Constructivism,Learning Processes
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Thermodynamics
Students: Elemetary School
Macintosh File Name: Gale - Temperature
Adjusted File Name: Gale-Temperature.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The 'field' concept, being of the central importance in physics curricula, deserves much more elaboration besides the formal introduction employed by most of the textbooks. The recently performed study with high school students and prospective teachers shows that some misconceptions that students have learning electricity and magnetism could be explained as stemming from the unawareness of the methodological change introduced to the interaction description in electricity and magnetism by the concept of field. A misinterpretation of the applied method to treat interaction, in its turn, can promote the revival of the 'mechanics' misconceptions about interrelations of forces, force and motion, work and energy, etc.
Keywords: scientific concepts,misconceptions,concept teaching,fundamental concepts ,cognitive structures ,educational strategies,concept formation,,
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: electricity & magnetism
Students: high school, college
Macintosh File Name: Galili - Fields
Adjusted File Name: Galili-Fields.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The approach to equate two fundamental concepts, weight and gravitation force, is a simplified definition of weight currently adopted in introduction courses of physical science. It appears that this definition can mislead students in their interpretation of a state of weightlessness they observe as a reality inside a coasting satellite. The reported study, which covered intermediate - high school students, students of a pre-academic studies university department and pre-service teachers, shows that post-instructed students kept to distinguish weight from the gravitational force. The strategy of equating the two concepts - weight and gravitation force is interpreted as causing a series of misconceptions related to the state of weightlessness and is interpreted as provoking wrong inferences about the gravitational interaction. The alternative definition of weight might be more effective as a teaching strategy stimulating the students' correct understanding of physical phenomena.
Keywords: fundamental concepts,scientific concepts,misconceptions,concept teaching,educational strategies,constructivist teaching,cognitive structures, concept formation,
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: mechanics (weight)
Students: junior high, high school
Macintosh File Name: Galili - Weight
Adjusted File Name: Galili-Weight.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Students misconceptions have been widely investigated. Research has shown how robust they are, outliving teaching that contradicts them. According to Posner's theory of conceptual change (1982), teachers can facilitate the processes of accommodation. This may be achieved: a) by confronting students' existing concepts against facts; b) by pointing out contradictions among points of view; c) by asking for consistency; d) by making a given scientific theory intelligible, plausible and fruitfull.
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Macintosh File Name: Garrido - Physics
Adjusted File Name: Garrido-Physics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to describe a text-based organizational strategy called explicit causal signaling and to demonstrate how it can be applied to create clear and understandable text explanations of science demonstrations for readers who do not possess extensive science background knowledge, namely, elementary preservice and inservice teachers. The strategy was used in the author's doctoral research in restructuring science text (Gates, 1992) and is supported by research-based practice in the areas of reading instruction and text comprehension (Beck, 1989; Cooper, 1993; McNeil, 1987; Vacca & Vacca, 1993). The theoretical framework that underlies the strategy comes from the writings and research of educational psychologist, Richard Mayer (Loman & Mayer, 1983; Mayer, 1987; Mayer, 1984; Mayer & Greeno, 1972), and will also be described. The paper is organized into four major sections and a summary. The first section defines and describes expository text structure and the organizational strategy of signaling in text. The next section establishes the importance of clear text organization as an aid to comprehension. The third section provides some examples of causal explanations for an air pressure demonstration that lack text clarity and consequently make comprehension difficult, especially for elementary school teachers. The last section explains, step by step, how to apply the strategy of explicit causal signaling to clarify text explanation and thus improve reader comprehension. The paper then concludes with a brief summary of the major points established in the discussion.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Teacher Education,Concept Formation,Learning Strategies,Comprehension,Cognitive Processes,Teacher Educators,Teaching Methods,Teachers
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Mechanics
Students: Education majors
Macintosh File Name: Gates - Signaling
Adjusted File Name: Gates-Signaling.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: User acceptance and usability of a computer system are major issues in the development of systems for networked collaborative design and problem solving. It has been suggested that user acceptance would increase if tools were informed by reliable information about the needs and desires of potential users, and the setting in which systems are intended to be used. One approach to building effective online systems is to collect descriptive, qualitative information on complex real work settings. Video-based data is particularly suited for representing such qualitative information because it captures information at several levels of expression (speech, actions, milieu) and thus lends itself to multiple interpretations.
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Macintosh File Name: Gay - Ethnographic Data
Adjusted File Name: Gay-EthnographicData.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: We believe that teaching/learning can only be successfully pursued if based on a formal model that is used in the design, analysis, presentation and testing of instructional material. This seems to hold at all levels of education, from general curriculum planning to detailed lesson design. In an attempt to fulfil this need we have defined and applied a model called a Concept-Relationship Knowledge Structure [CRKS]. This model has a sound formal mathematical basis which makes computer implementation easy. Opportunity for interaction between the developer(s) and the model is provided, and the integrity of the model can be automatically checked at each stage of design. Analogical reasoning is formally defined, and is shown to be applicable in choosing examples, in problem solving, and in the construction and use of models in teaching and learning. Our use of the model is scientific in the sense that it is used to make predictions which are tested, producing useful feedback to the model. We argue that moving towards a science of education is not possible without a theory of teaching/learning that is based on a formal model. In this paper we give a brief informal description of the main facets of our work on the use of CRKS's in education.
Keywords: Knowledge representation, Concept-names, Relations of arities, Syllabuses, Design, Analysis, Presentation, Analogical reasoning (formal), Theory of teaching/learning
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Macintosh File Name: Geldenhuys - Education
Adjusted File Name: Geldenhuys-Education.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Students' misconceptions in biology have been rarely investigated in Germany (SCHAEFER 1983 a, b, HEDEWIG 1988, GRAF 1989, GERHARDT/PIEPENBROCK 1990, 1992). In our research group (Gerhardt, Piepenbrock, Rusche) we are studying students' misconceptions in different biological subject areas (Fig.1). Grades 1 and 4 of the primary schools and grades 5, 7 and 10 of the secondary schools I (Sekundarstufe I) in North Rhine - Westfalia are involved in these studies.
Keywords: Misconceptions,Constructivism,Learning Processes,Tests,Data Interpretation,Concept Formation,Qualitative Research,Educational Strategies,Classroom Techniques
General School Subject: Biology Sciences
Specific School Subject: Biology
Students: Secondary School
Macintosh File Name: Gerhardt - Biology
Adjusted File Name: Gerhardt-Biology.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The idea that the student participates actively in the development of his knowledge is certainly not new. In the past fifty years, Piaget, Bruner, Wallon, Kelly, Gagné, Ausubel, Novak have in turn developed this theme. It is true that this idea was already found with a certain constancy in the pedagogical literature since the Renaissance. Montaigne, Rabelais, Rousseau, Fénelon, Kant, and then Cramaussel, Claparède, Montessori, Decroly, Ferrière, Dewey, Freinet had already emphasized the importance of the child and of its methods of learning, without however giving themselves the actual means to know these methods better. The work on the conceptions of the learners goes however much further when it comes to the mechanisms in play in the act of learning. It renews the question of cognitive learning. It refutes certain well-established ideas of contemporary psychology, notably showing certain limits of constructivism. Since then, scientific education could no longer target the acquisition of knowledge (contents and modes of reasoning) without concerning itself with the field of significance of that knowledge to the learner. By the same token, it could no longer evade the frameworks and the referential practices which conditioned these acquisitions and their ulterior mobilization. In this context, new models have been produced, for example the allosteric learning model, which we have corroborated in classrooms. As well as providing some insights into the functioning of thought, it puts the accent particularly on a environment which facilitates the learning.
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Macintosh File Name: Giordan - Learning Models
Adjusted File Name: Giordan-LearningModels.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: We are living at a crucial moment in the field of education in Spain. The accelerated pace of current life and the adaptation to technological, social, economical, political changes, call for new services from educative settings. Innovative actions which affect the "common places" of education are necessary (SHWAB, 1973; NOVAK, 1989).With the 1991/1992 academic year a gradual process of reform of education in Spain has been initiated, related to both primary and secondary school levels. The theoretical basis of the reform are contained in the so called "white book". The psycho pedagogical principles and the contents corresponding to the different areas of the curriculum are detailed in the book which, also, emphasises "meaningful learning".
Keywords: Theories,Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Educational Theories,Concept Teaching,Misconceptions,Concept Mapping,Curriculum Design,Instructional Design
General School Subject: Earth Science
Specific School Subject: Geology
Students: elementary, undergraduate
Macintosh File Name: Gonzalez - Diagnosis
Adjusted File Name: Gon