Meaningful Learning Research Group Publications
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
Specific School Subject:
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
Students:
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: Gonzalez-Diagnosis.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In Australia, science courses in general and physics in particular are experiencing difficulties in attracting high ranking students. This is reflected by the lower entry requirements compared with courses in medicine, law, business studies or humanities. On the whole, the highest ranking high school students enter disciplines associated with high prestige, high salaries and job security or those which are perceived as new, challenging and stimulating. For students who do enrol in science courses the retention rate is often poor. Over the last ten years less than half the students entering Physical Sciences courses at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) have gone on to graduate.
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: undergraduate 1st year
Macintosh File Name: Gosper - Physics
Adjusted File Name: Gosper-Physics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Fatalistic students devalue schooling as arbitrary and unhelpful, and see themselves as passive subjects of authoritarian adults and the whims of fate. Failure to encourage natural inquisitiveness often leads such students to view the world as capricious, unknowable, and uncontrollable. The author challenged this view in three ways: By validating alternative epistemologies (empirical, poetic, and doctrinal), by modelling skepticism and renouncing the role of information authority (inquiry and socratic formats), and by respecting data (personal experience) as a source of knowledge. The interpretation of data was used to develop the ability to "read the logic" inherent in the physical world, leading to the conclusion that it is orderly. For instance, students made generally accurate predictions about habitat, behavior, diet, and reproductive strategy from gross anatomy. After making this transition, students sought explanations that often exceeded the abilities of the teacher! The author speculates that an orderly world view may also contribute to emotional health. Participants are invited to share their own experiences.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Concept Formation,Philosophy,Change Strategies,Inquiry,Cognitive Restructuring,Thinking Skills,Skill Development,Educational Objectives
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Biology
Students: High School
Macintosh File Name: Greenberg - Student Growth
Adjusted File Name: Greenberg-StudentGrowth.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Since research in learning and instruction turns back to the process of understanding, the learning of the student is seen as an active process of knowledge construction. In this context learning means "to develop understanding" or "to know something well that was unknown before". This process can only be studied in a specific knowledge domain. In our case, students' conceptions, concepts and rules in physics, and integrated knowledge of the circuit as a system belong to the specific knowledge domain. If in this first approximation the cognitive aspects of learning are emphasized, learning should not be seen as a process without emotions. It is a principle of learning psychology that cognitive and motivational processes are intermixed, when learning takes place. The handy formulation of "will and skill" (Salomon 1987) describes this evident fact. Besides cognitive actions and motivational states it is important for the learning of the student how he or she perceives the environment. It ranges from more distal cultural and social influences to the proximal social interactions with teachers and class-mates, which define the social climate in the classroom. Especially, in the case of long-term learning the class climate may influence the learning processes.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Research Methodology,Concept Formation,Cognitive Psychology,Learning Strategies,Causal Models,,,
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Electronics
Students: Junior High
Macintosh File Name: Grob - Electricity
Adjusted File Name: Grob-Electricity.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract:
Keywords: Concept Formation,Testing,,Fundamental Concepts,Scientific Concepts,Comprehension,Misconceptions,Piagetian Theory,Tests
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Mechanics
Students: College
Macintosh File Name: Gomez - Mechanics
Adjusted File Name: Gomez-Mechanics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract:
Keywords: Concept formation, research methodology, scientific concepts, misconceptions, comprehension, data interpretation, qualitative research, undergraduate students, biology
General School Subject: biological sciences
Specific School Subject: biology
Students: undergraduate
Macintosh File Name: Hallden - Evolution
Adjusted File Name: Hallden-Evolution.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: An important aim of conceptions research is to determine the nature and content of students' knowledge prior to instruction. Methods used to investigate students' preinstructional knowledge of mechanics include a number of variations in which subjects are asked to respond to physics questions or tasks. Some involve giving students paper and pencil tasks such as open-ended qualitative dynamics problems (Clement, 1982; Viennot, 1979) or multiple choice problems (Halloun & Hestenes, 1985; Whitaker, 1983) . Others involve interviews of students such as the interview-about-instances (Osborne & Gilbert, 1980) and the interview-about-events (Gilbert, Osborne, & Fensham, 1982) methods where the interviews are organized around physics concepts such as force. These types of methods have generated student answers and explanations some of which, when judged by the standards of classical mechanics, are incorrect. Analysis of the mistakes has led to varied claims regarding students' conceptions. These studies and the claims generated thereby have enjoyed great currency.
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Macintosh File Name: Hamilton - Mechanics
Adjusted File Name: Hamilton-Mechanics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This workshop focuses on the use of writing to learn statistics. In particular, it concentrates on the role of the three-column divided page learning journal within the undergraduate introductory statistics course as a means by which instructors can identify and then address students' misconceptions. This presentation is interactive by design. It provides the opportunity for workshop participants to experiment, on a limited basis, with this type of journal writing first by attempting and then by sharing sample entries. Constructive criticism and suggestions are encouraged from the participants, since the associated research is still in progress. Whenever appropriate and for illustrative purposes, verbatim-transcripted excerpts from actual student journals are included in the discussion. The journal excerpts included in this document represent the variety of samples discussed during the interactive workshop. The names of the student authors of the journals have been changed to provide these individuals with anonymity. Furthermore, any implication that gender is an important issue or a mitigating variable for this research is unintentional. Most, if not all, of the journals discussed at this workshop were written by women; this scenario arguably reflects only the prerogative of the presenter in selecting exemplary material, as well as the demographics of Centenary College, the small private Liberal Arts college at which all of the research subjects studied statistics. At the time the journals were written, Centenary was in transition from single-sex (i.e., an all-female full-time student body) towards truly co-educational status, so male students were clearly in the minority in all classes.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Concept Formation,,Writing Strategies,Classroom Techniques,Educational Strategies,Comprehension,Misconceptions,Mathematical Concepts
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Statistics
Students: Nonmajors
Macintosh File Name: Hammett - Statistics
Adjusted File Name: Hammett-Statistics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper will discuss the science portion of some of the early findings of a study of multiple choice and alternative forms of assessment presently being conducted in urban schools by Boston College, Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation, and Educational Policy. The study, under the title Urban Development Assessment Consortium (UDAC) is targeted for 11 major urban school districts and aims to develop assessments that will meet two requirements: to provide diagnostic information to classroom teachers and local school administrators for the improvement of instruction, and at the same time to provide a monitoring system to district evaluators and policy boards. Teachers need information on what students are thinking and how they are personally making sense of what is taught, information that is not provided merely by the student's ability to select a correct answer on a multiple-choice test. School districts need information on the strengths and weaknesses of schools in effecting student learning so as to know where to allocate resources, what kinds of teacher training to provide, where innovations are more effective than prior programs and should be supported, and where there may be waste of resources in ineffectual programs. Districts and institutions of higher education presently make high stakes decisions based on the results of commercially available multiple-choice tests which in fact do not sample higher order thinking or in-depth concept understanding, and tell little or nothing about students' abilities to solve the kinds of poorly structured non-routine problems they will meet in future life. Although the initial findings discussed here are very early and partial, and therefore any conclusions must be at best tentative, I believe some description of both process and results is relevant to the intent of this seminar for a number of reasons.
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Macintosh File Name: Harmon - Performance Assessment
Adjusted File Name: Harmon-PerformanceAssess.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper reports on a longitudinal study of pupils' understanding of ecological processes, with emphasis on how their conceptions of matter influence the development of their understanding those processes. A class of 25 Swedish pupils is being followed from age 8 to 15 in an interview study using the revised clinical method.The pupils' ideas were challenged by cultivating plants in closed transparent boxes, and investigating leaf litter. Initially, the pupils expected the plants to die, and constructed a 'use up model' in their minds to explain how water and air were consumed. When they saw plants survive they used a 'cycle model' to explain how the organisms maintained life-supporting resources. Some pupils thought that water, air and oxygen were formed during the cycle. Many pupils thought that soil is the ending place for matter in decomposition, with the result that the Earth would increase in size. Other pupils constructed explanations as to why the size of the Earth does not change, such as matter disappearance, displacement, modification, transmutation and chemical/biological interaction. Pupils' ideas about the transformations of matter can be explained by their limited conception of the gaseous state.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,,Misconceptions,Cognitive Structures,Learning Processes,Cognitive Processes,,
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Biology
Students: Elementary School
Macintosh File Name: Hellden - Ecological Processes
Adjusted File Name: Hellden-EcologicalProcess.sit.hqx
Abstract: Interviews conducted by one of us (Z.J.) with thirty first-year students at the University of Fort Hare (Ciskei, South Africa), whose home language is Xhosa, show that although these students had received extensive instruction about the concept of current, including its formal definition, and its application to simple D.C. circuits, they held alternative conceptions concerning current and electrical conduction of a kind previously noted by many researchers. The way the students use the particle model suggests that it serves only to reinforce their existing conceptions. A highly significant feature of these interviews is that in none of them does a student make any reference to the formal concept of current as amount of charge flowing per unit time. We therefore suggest that relevant teaching strategies should give major attention to clarifying quantitative as well as qualitative ideas about flow, and that because of the baggage of alternative meaning attached to the word current, the use of the latter term as the concept name should be delayed as long as possible in the teaching sequence. We contend that unless these things are done, students will be seriously handicapped in trying to integrate their measurements and observations of phenomena in D.C. circuits into a meaningful conceptual structure.
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Macintosh File Name: Helm - Current
Adjusted File Name: Helm-Current.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper describes the development and classroom evaluation of an experimental Œcurriculum¹ for teaching mechanics concepts to secondary school children. The curriculum integrates experiments using a series of interactive computer simulations of force and motion with real practical activities. Four scenarios were designed which underpin the sequencing of the material taught. The aim was to promote change in learners¹ understandings of physical phenomena, by first making them aware of the limitations of their current conceptions, and then by enabling learners to develop and use a conceptual framework which both fits with their experience and is internally consistent. An empirical evaluation was undertaken over a 7-week period with a class of twenty-nine 12- to 13-year-olds. The intervention was found to promote conceptual change, in that the children displayed more sophisticated reasoning at immediate and delayed post-tests than their counterparts in comparison classes. Specifically, explanations asserting that motion implies a force in the same direction and those excluding friction as a force opposing motion were significantly less prevalent. An interesting phenomenon was observed in that both prior and goal (newtonian) conceptions in this domain increased.
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Macintosh File Name: Hennessy - Mechanics
Adjusted File Name: Hennessy-Mechanics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The diagnosis of previous knowledge and the exposition of misconceptions to estimate conceptual understanding is recognized as a need in science teaching. To meet this need a diagnostic test was designed using the methodology proposed by D. Treagust in 1987. The instrument assesses misconceptions in mendelian genetics and meiosis of non-major college biology students. It consists of 21 multiple-choice two-tier items, and is known as the Diagnostic Test of Mendelian Genetics and Meiosis. The test was administered to 197 students. The internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach alfa) was 0.61, and its stability coefficient 0.70. Item analysis revealed indexes of difficulty and discrimination of 0.39. Students' scores showed a positive and significant relation with reference to both student achievement in mathematics and the grades of the unit test offered by professors in charge of the courses. Thirty-two misconceptions were identified, some of them related to Puerto Rican and Latin American social beliefs. Based on the finding, recommendations for classroom instruction are presented.
Keywords: testing,Concept Formation,,Misconceptions,Test Construction,Scientific Concepts,Group Testing,Evaluation,
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Genetics
Students: College Students
Macintosh File Name: Hernandez - Genetics
Adjusted File Name: Hernandez-Genetics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The need to take account of students' conceptions of the natural world in the teaching of science has received increasingly wide acceptance over the past 15 years. As a result an important question for teachers is: How do I know where my students are, intellectually and conceptually speaking? This has led researchers and teachers to employ a number of different techniques that use both verbal and written feedback from individual students in order to elicit the content, structure, and context of students' conceptions. Researchers have found open ended interview techniques essential to discover the complex and detailed nature of these conceptions. Teachers, on the other hand, have increasingly come to use instruments with written feedback and limited options for pragmatic reasons: they need the information immediately. So individual student testing, ubiquitously used for assessing learning and grading students, has come to be used in a new role: that of eliciting student conceptions. The familiarity of these procedures appears to have made the transition a relatively easy one for many teachers.
Keywords: Teacher education,educational methods, testing,informal assessment,learning activities,teachers,observation,classroom techniques,theory practice relationship
General School Subject: science
Specific School Subject: biology, chemistry, physics
Students: high school
Macintosh File Name: Hewson - Project DISTIL
Adjusted File Name: Hewson-ProjectDISTIL.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The qualitative study on which this paper is based investigated the impact of a mathematics method program on pre-service primary teachers¹ relational understanding of mathematics, independence as mathematics learners, beliefs about their capabilities as mathematics learners, and mathematical skills. The program, based in primary schools, enables students to practise in an integrated and concrete manner what they are learning in theory and to reflect on their experiences. The program is influenced by Skemp¹s (1979) theory of intelligent learning, Perry¹s (1981) scheme of intellectual and ethical development, Knefelkamp¹s (1981) Developmental Instruction Model (DIM) based on Perry¹s scheme, and Posner, Strike, Hewson and Gertzog¹s (1982) conditions for conceptual change. The findings suggest that pedagogical strategies consistent with the DIM‹particularly experiential learning and personalism‹tend to foster the establishment of the conditions for conceptual change‹dissatisfaction with existing ideas, and the plausibility, intelligibility, and fruitfulness of the new ideas. The year-long cycle of theory, practice, and reflection in which students engage appears to provide a powerful incentive for students to commit themselves to relational learning and teaching in mathematics via a democratic model. It appears that the personal, egalitarian nature of the program tends to allay students¹ fears about learning mathematics and enables them to feel more comfortable about asking questions and experimenting with ideas.
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Macintosh File Name: Hill - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Hill-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Students' misconceptions are particularly problematic in learning about probability as they result in a lack of conceptual understanding of the nature of probability and probabilistic reasoning. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of several instructional interventions intended to eliminate students' misconceptions of representativeness in learning about probability. Two different forms of a test instrument were established during a pilot study after which a controlled experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of several instructional interventions designed to create varying levels of cognitive conflict and conflict resolution. One form of the test was used to determine students' eligibility for the experiment. Students identified as having misconceptions based on their responses to the test were assigned to one of four instructional interventions. The second form of the test was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional interventions. Results of the experiment found the instructional interventions designed to create cognitive conflict and conflict resolution to be effective in long-term elimination of students' misconceptions of representativeness.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,,Misconceptions,Cognitive Restructuring,Concept Teaching,Heuristics,Learning Activities,Teaching Methods
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Probability
Students: College
Macintosh File Name: Hirsch - Representativeness
Adjusted File Name: Hirsch-Representativeness.sit.hqx
Abstract: However, it is rather obvious that not the whole problems of learning and teaching of sci ence have been clarified so far. We still have a serious problem to be solved concerning the ways in which one¹s knowledge and concepts which he/she obtains from public school education are stored in his/her memory and what kind of such knowledge and concepts are maintained in his/her memory. The purpose of this study is to clarify how a certain newly obtained piece of knowledge and concept can be comprehended by the students in Japan before they study them at school and after a certain long time has since the first study of them. We can regard our problem as that of how the association pattern of knowledge in one¹s understanding can be changed by his/her learn ing activities. Osborne and Freyberg (1985) have pointed out the same problem. White (1990) and others (for example, Baird and Mitchell, 1986) have also pointed out the significance of the prob lem.
Keywords: Misconceptions,Comprhension,Metacognition,Concept Formation,Scientific Concepts,Epistemology,Cognitive Dissonance,Error Patterns,Learning Theory
General School Subject: Science
Specific School Subject: Physics
Students: Junior High School
Macintosh File Name: Hori - Weight
Adjusted File Name: Hori-Weight.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: A Vygotskian perspective can provide insights that will be useful as we seek to make teaching more effective and meaningful to both students and teachers. Vygotsky emphasized the role of culture and of social interaction in education and advocated teaching that encourages and guides learners but never forces or dictates. He believed that children learn through active participation in a collaborative effort with teachers, parents or older children. Current suggestions for teaching for conceptual change emphasize the need for students to recognize and bring to consciousness their misconsceptions as a prelude to conceptual change with the assumption that, as the internal idea is externalized and viewed objectively, contradictions will be recognized and reconciled. From a Vygotskian perspective the process is reversed as ideas gathered from the culture through social interaction are internalized. This paper presents some of Vygotsky's contributions to thought in this field and considers the implications for educational strategies in science teaching.
Keywords: theories,concept formation,educational methods,theory practice relationship,concept formation,concept teaching,,,
General School Subject: all science
Specific School Subject:
Students: elementary & secondary school
Macintosh File Name: Howe - Conceptual Change
Adjusted File Name: Howe-ConceptualChange.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The purpose of my study was to investigate the student's academic achievement and attitude towards the marine environment before, during, and after the FOR SEA experience. In this program students investigated the nonliving and living factors that affect the marine environment. Students learned this content by "doing" science, using process skills to gather data, thus enabling them to generate their own concepts about the world (Kolb, 1988). The study examined constructs measured qualitatively and quantitatively in this case study, with student learning and attitudes being the focus of the study. The students experienced a 22 day unit regarding physical and biological aspects of the marine environment. Students' content knowledge concepts were measured with a pre- and posttest and "brain storming" maps. Students' marine-science attitudes were measured by the use of interviews, observations, documents (journals), "brain-storming" maps, and open-ended questionnaires.
Keywords: concept formation,research methodology,philosophy,cognitive mapping,concept formation,misconceptions,qualitative research,participant observation,constructivism
General School Subject: biological sciences
Specific School Subject: marine biology
Students: elementary school
Macintosh File Name: Howick - Marine Environment
Adjusted File Name: Howick-MarineEnvironment.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: According to the results of the paper-pencil instrument and the interview instrument, the researcher designed the teaching strategy in order to improve genetics instruction in junior high schools. The main points of this teaching strategy are: 1. to emphasize the concepts related to "the recognition of homologous chromosomes," "the process of meiosis," and "the relationships between genes, chromosomes, and traits;" 2. to encourage students' active involvement in the instruction; 3. to use the designed instructional tools for genetics teaching. This teaching strategy was studied by fourteen pairs of teachers. The experimental teachers had been attended a one-day program for introducing and practicing this teaching strategy. After three weeks of instruction, there were significant differences between achievement scores of experimental classes and control classes. The scores of experimental classes were better than the control classes'.
Keywords: Educational Method,Concept
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Genetics
Students:
Macintosh File Name: Huang - Genetics
Adjusted File Name: Huang-Genetics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Lists the content related to genetics from junior high and senior high biology textbooks. Analyze them into the "Table of the Required Concepts and Principles for Learning Genetics." According to this table, there are two design instruments: the paper-pencil instrument and the interview instrument. This paper reports the results of the interview instrument. This instrument has been pilot studied and the reabilities according to inter-rater are 80% and 100%. The validity is according to two-dimentional analysis. There were 58 seventh graders and 37 tenth graders interviewed. The results indicate that there are many difficulties and misunderstandings experienced by students on the concepts related to "the recognition of homologous chromosomes," "the process of meiosis," and "the relationships between genes, chromosomes, and traits." The results also indicate that the students who had high achievement test scores did not necessarily understand related concepts.
Keywords: Concept Formation,,,Misconceptions,Comprehension,,,,
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Genetics
Students: High School
Macintosh File Name: Huang - High School Genetics
Adjusted File Name: Huang-HighSchoolGenetics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In learning new calculus concepts, students are usually expected to have a considerable knowledge and understanding of certain basic mathematical concepts. These basic concepts are frequently used in explanations and definitions of new ideas and concepts. For example, in the study of differentiation, the concepts of gradient and tangent line are the underlying concepts for differentiation.
Keywords: concept Formation,Theories,Teacher Education,Concept Formation,Mathematical Concepts,Misconception,Theory practice relationship,Teaching for concepted change,
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Calculus
Students: College Sophmores
Macintosh File Name: Ismail - Differentiation
Adjusted File Name: Ismail-Differentiation.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In this paper we explain a proposal of epistemologically based didactic action, in which "teaching to explain theoretically" is considered to be a priority.
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Macintosh File Name: Izquierdo - Paradigmatic Facts
Adjusted File Name: Izquierdo-ParadigmaticFacts.sit.hqx
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Macintosh File Name: Izquierdo - Dialogue
Adjusted File Name: Izquierdo-Dialogue.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In recent years misconceptions have become a popular subject of study within physics education research. Research has shown that these misconceptions are not usually simple mistakes, but rather are the result of systems of common sense theories that are so stable and coherent internally that conventional instruction has little effect on them. So, the goal, from an education viewpoint should be to find strategies to make instruction more efficient and to determine at what age or grade children are more open to learning what are traditionally considered difficult concepts with less interference from common sense theories.
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Macintosh File Name: Jara-Guerrero - Heat
Adjusted File Name: Jara-Guerrero-Heat.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The teaching and learning of Biology relies strongly upon the use and interpretation of pictures, drawings and all sorts of iconic representations; it would be difficult to imagine teaching Biology without using them. Any Biology textbook contains a great number of graphic representations; for instance Carrick (quoted by Reid & Miller 1980) found in British textbooks of the 70's more than one every two pages. They range from photographs, drawings, electron micrographs, to outlines and other images, attempting to represent a wide range of scales, sections and idealizations of living beings. At the same time an important part of Biology courses consists of laboratory practical experience, including exercises with direct observation of samples, or by means of a microscope, and drawing these samples.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Teacher Education,,Skill Development,Learning Activities,Teaching Methods,Preservice Teacher Education,,
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Biology
Students: Secondary School & Student Teachers
Macintosh File Name: Jimenez-Aleixandre - Cells
Adjusted File Name: Jimenez-Aleixandre-Cells.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The idea that Physics students must have a mastery of basic mathematical tools has been with us for a long time. In physics even the simplest information requires some conceptual framework to enable it to be assimilated. Simple mathematical ideas like proportion, functional relationships, ratio etc are involved in many of the physical concepts eg pressure and volume, spring force, density etc; and these exercise a powerful organising influence in helping to understand the physical concepts and in the construction of knowledge.
Keywords: Concept Formation,,,Scientific Concepts,Math Concepts,,,,
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject:
Students: College Freshmen
Macintosh File Name: Jiya - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Jiya-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This study investigated changes in preservice mathematics and science teachers' knowledge structures related to effective teaching during the final year of their teacher preparation program. The research questions included: (1) How do student teachers' concepts of effective mathematics or science teaching change through time?; (2) What experiences and factors influence changes in the organization of students' concepts related to teaching?; and (3) Do student teachers radically reconstruct their knowledge? Ten seniors in middle grades teacher education participated in the study. Each student drew concept maps, completed card sorting tasks and participated in four structured interviews during the senior year. The findings of the study indicated that student teachers underwent a radical reconstruction of their knowledge related to teaching during the middle of student teaching. Analysis of the concept maps and the multidimensional scaling revealed that most of the changes in knowledge structures occurred during the middle of student teaching and these changes were a result of the student teachers' experiences with students and other teachers.
Keywords: Cognitive Development,Concept Mapping,Cognitive Structures,Preservice Teacher Education,Student Teaching,Cognitive Restructuring,,,
General School Subject: Mathematics, biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: NA
Students: Education majors
Macintosh File Name: Jones - Pedagogical Knowledge
Adjusted File Name: Jones-PedagogicalKnowledge.sit.hqx
Abstract: This study investigated the dynamic changes in the conceptions of simple electric circuits of a small number of high school students. A "teaching experiment" design (Steffe, 1983) guided the research. Learning and development of more scientific understanding were expected in this study as a result of teaching interventions and interactions between the students and the researcher who acted as a teacher. This paper reports a detailed analysis of the teaching experiment conducted with one student.
Keywords: concept formation,research methodology,educational methods,concept teaching,cognitive development,cognitive restructuring,change strategies,qualitative research,misconceptions
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: electricity
Students: secondary school
Macintosh File Name: Katu - Electricity
Adjusted File Name: Katu-Electricity.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Scientific communities are expressing concerns about the "knowledge gap" that exists between experts and the voting citizenry. Linn (1986) described the components of metacognition as perceptions, conceptions, beliefs, etc. Kuhn (1970) described declarative knowledge as facts, concepts, theories, etc. and procedural knowledge as computing, graphing, reasoning, etc. Foci of this paper are metacognition, prior declarative knowledge, prior procedural knowledge and effects those variables have on knowledge acquisition and knowledge transfer as depicted by misperceptions and misconceptions that are imbedded in cartoons.Several causal agents are postulated to include insufficient perceptual knowledge, insufficient conceptual knowledge, misperceptions and misconception in an attempt to explain individuals' responses to cartoons. Those responses are categorized as follows: Can not laugh; Do not laugh; and Do not get the joke.Preliminary results indicate that an association exists between those causal agents and response types. Further results indicate that sufficient knowledge, as well as a correct view of the knowledge (i.e., perception) or a correct organization of the knowledge (i.e., conception) are preconditions for an individual who are categorized as follows: get the joke. Data as well as a demonstration of the design and the methodology are presented in the paper.In conclusion, cartoons are a reliable assessment measure, which includes data collection and decision making, for determining the state of a learner's prior knowledge. Cartoons are also an effective instructional tool.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Theories,Testing,Metacognition,Cognitive Process,Scientific Methodology,Informal Assessment,Testing Problems,Piagetian Theory
General School Subject: Chemistry
Specific School Subject: Inorganic
Students: Elementary School
Macintosh File Name: Kermis - Cartoons
Adjusted File Name: Kermis-Cartoons.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The "endless variations" of how teachers use what they have learned in their own teaching is one of the most intriguing features of teachers' research (Duckworth 1987). This paper reports on the experiences of elementary teachers who acted as researchers in their own classrooms after attending a summer workshop designed to encourage them to assume that role. Their inquiry involved them in reflection on their own practice.
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Macintosh File Name: Kerr - Classroom Teacher
Adjusted File Name: Kerr-ClassroomTeacher.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper addresses the relationship between research on misconceptions (and educational strategies) and the development of Project 2061 benchmarks for science literacy. The benchmarks specify a sequence of steps through which students would be expected to progress to reach desired outcomes specified for high school graduates in Science for All Americans. Benchmarks result from a process Project 2061 calls "back-mapping." "Back-mapping" involves considering what the component ideas are for a particular learning goal, then imagining lower levels of sophistication at which these ideas might be understood at earlier grade levels. Benchmarks reflect the logical structure of science and an understanding of student learning, gleaned from teachers' experience as well as from research into how children learn. Because such research is limited in many areas, developing benchmarks is a specially difficult task. Kinds of research proving most useful and further research needed in developing and revising benchmarks and curriculum based on them will be identified.
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Macintosh File Name: Kesidou - Science Literacy
Adjusted File Name: Kesidou-ScienceLiteracy.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This study was designed to assess the usefulness of concept mapping as a technique for the teaching and learning of mathematics and the development of the CXC mathematics curriculum at the secondary school level. It had as its focus the use of concept mapping as a technique that would facilitate students' transition from rote learning towards more meaningful learning. The central argument was that learning mathematics required certain modifications of conventional teach- ing practices, since the teacher's role was that of a facilitator of learning who helped provide a learning environment within which students could construct their own mathematics.
Keywords: Philosophy,Educational Methods,Concept Mapping,Concept Formation,Vee Diagramming,Constructivism,Theory Practice Relationship,Cognitive Mapping,Misconceptions
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject:
Students: High School Seniors
Macintosh File Name: Khan - Concept Mapping
Adjusted File Name: Khan-ConceptMapping.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Central to secondary and college-level biology instruction is the development of student understanding of a number of subcellular processes. Yet one of the most crucial, meiosis, is consistently cited as one of the most difficult components of biology to learn (Johnstone & Mahmoud, 1980; Finley, Stewart, & Yarroch, 1982). A number of studies have documented a variety of meiosis misunderstandings among high school and college students following instruction on meiosis and Mendelian genetics (Brown, 1990; Hafner, 1991; Hildebrand, 1985, 1989; Kindfield, 1991a, 1991c; Slack & Stewart, 1990; Smith, 1991; Stewart & Dale, 1989; Stewart, Hafner, & Dale, 1990; Stewart & Van Kirk, 1990; Thomas, 1988 (cited in Brown, 1990)). Several of these have also documented both students¹ lacking any sense of connection between meiosis and Mendelian genetics and their ability to successfully solve Mendelian genetics problems without understanding meiosis. The facts that (a) many students harbor a variety of meiosis misunderstandings following instruction and (b) solutions to Mendelian genetics problems are not necessarily indicative of underlying meiosis knowledge suggest a need for better tools for analyzing student understanding of this important process.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,,Misconceptions,Problem Solving,Scientific Concepts,Causal Models,Cognitive Restructuring,
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Genetics
Students: Undergraduate
Macintosh File Name: Kindfield - Meiosis
Adjusted File Name: Kindfield-Meiosis.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The research project to be presented in this paper aims at studying the way different cognitive strategies are employed and information concerning the greenhouse effect and the ozone layer depletion is processed by primary school children. Specifically, concerning the aim of this paper we are mainly focusing on1. an initial analysis of the metaphors primary school children use in order to render unfamiliar processes understandable, and2. an initial analysis of explanations as well as causal relationships children use.
Keywords: concept formation,,,cognitive ability,concept formation,misconceptions,,,
General School Subject: biological sciences
Specific School Subject: ecology
Students: elementary school
Macintosh File Name: Koulaidis - Ozone Depletion
Adjusted File Name: Koulaidis-OzoneDepletion.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In a research about circular motion (KRAPAS-TEIXEIRA and QUEIROZ, 1991) we observed that it is treated by the students as an equilibrium situation. That means, it is governed by Newton's first law (without, however, the use of non-inertial reference frames). When we presented the precession movement of a gyroscope in the classroom, we found evidence that some students also treated it as an equilibrium situation. Thus we started a systematic data collection with the purpose of finding alternative conceptions about the gyroscope behaviour. The gyroscope precession, with its axis moving on an horizontal plane, occurs if there is an initial non-zero angular momentum; otherwise it will fall. Since the torque exerted by the earth's gravitational force is perpendicular to the angular momentum, it will not lead to a variation of the modulus, but will lead to a variation of the direction of the spin angular momentum. The gyroscope does not fall: it precesses because the spin angular momentum is always on the horizontal plane. This is so because the torque stays in this plane, just like the direction of the variation of the spin angular momentum.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Philosophy,,Scientific Concepts,Learning Processes,Concept Teaching,Constructivism,,
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Mechanics
Students: College
Macintosh File Name: Krapas-Teixeira - Gyroscope
Adjusted File Name: Krapas-Teixeira-Gyroscope.sit.hqx
Abstract: Problems to define the concept of force and difficulties to integrate vector components are closely related. The well known impetus belief gives an illustrative example: According to this misconception force is interpreted as some kind of energetic substance which can be transmitted and used up. The impetus belief is assumed to be based on daily experience proving that passive objects, set in motion by an external agent (like an object being pushed by a child), slow down and stop after a while apparently on their own (McCloskey, 1983). Frictional forces which cause negative acceleration and compensate the objects forward movement usually are ignored. When physics novices explain such motion problems they rarely mention the existence of more than one force (Clement, 1982; White, 1983). One reason for the development of physical misconceptions like the impetus-belief might thus be the wrong identification or integration of relevant vector components.
Keywords: concept formation,educational methods,,misconceptions,developmental stages,fundamental concepts,heuristics,,
General School Subject: mathematics
Specific School Subject: physics
Students:
Macintosh File Name: Lamsfuss - Vectors
Adjusted File Name: Lamsfuss-Vectors.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Our studies are goal-oriented. We are looking for educational methods in dealing with ecology and so changing behavior. However there is a constraint : the educational strategies we are seeking must include exhibits pertaining to the realm of museums or centers of scientific literacy. We recognize the importance of meaningful learning, not only to alter previous knowledge but as well, to change certain ways of doing things. We also believe that there is a knowledge "of" a subject and a knowledge "on" a subject; there would be several levels of cognition and at each level there is the possibility to encounter LIPH's. When, at a particular level, a pragmatic conception is counter-productive, it is only with the help of a higher level of cognition that the mind can operate "on" the inappropriate proposition. So to furnish to the public a level of discourse that could work on their knowledge (either to alter it or to change habits) we first have to know what their metalearning state is like. In our study, the subject matter is related to ecology. With an adaptation of the Q-Sort technique, we have collected data from 550 people and built a list showing the most important words that people use to express their feelings (metacognition) about the St-Lawrence River and about water in general.
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Macintosh File Name: Larose - Ecology
Adjusted File Name: Larose-Ecology.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: We have developed a versatile microcomputer based system including new software and hardware for data acquisition and analysis in science teaching. The hardware is designed to be connected to IBM PC/AT/PS computers. Our software, Empirica 2.0, uses a Windows type of interface and allows several methods of data analysis and graphical visualisation. The data can also be transferred to other programs for further analysis and reporting. Version 3.0 of the Empirica runs under the Microsoft Windows 3.1 Graphical Environment.A pedagogical research and development program has also been initiated to produce teaching materials as well as different practical approaches to the problems of teaching-learning situation in schools. Here, we have utilized the "Extended Market Square" model developed by Meisalo (1991) and the idea of "Perceptional approach in physics teaching" emphasized in Finland especially by Kurki-Suonio & Kurki-Suonio (1987). The qualitative results of the evaluation of our approach support the claims of the pedagogical versatility of our approach. Our system is already in use in several Finnish schools.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Technology,,Concept Formation,Concept Teaching,Scientific Concepts,Computer Uses in Education,Computers,Educational Equipment
General School Subject: Physics, Chemistry
Specific School Subject: Physics, Chemistry
Students: High School
Macintosh File Name: Lavonen - Physics
Adjusted File Name: Lavonen-Physics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: It has been argued that a knowledge of the nature of the scientific enterprise may be important for students (a) to better understand the status of the concepts that they are being taught; and (b) because the nature of the scientific enterprise is itself an important curriculum goal in developing a scientifically literate society.This cross-sectional study has been carried out to provide an initial map of the ideas that school students at different ages are likely to have about a number of features of the nature of science including: the purposes of science; the nature of theory, and its relationship to evidence; and science as an enterprise, and how it relates to society.A range of interview-based instruments were designed to probe students¹ understanding of each of the features of interest. At least sixty students were interviewed in pairs at each of three ages (9, 12, 16). Responses were audiotaped and transcribed. Forms of reasoning were identified from the range of responses and used to code the transcribed interviews.This paper describes a number of the probes used, their administration and analysis. Broad trends in the results across ages from these probes are discussed and educational implications are identified.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,,Epistemology,Metacognition,,,,
General School Subject:
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Students: High & Junior High
Macintosh File Name: Leach - Science
Adjusted File Name: Leach-Science.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Students who sucessfully solve physics problems appear to be able to place them in a context, grasp a procedure and monitoring their work. This paper presents a case study, carried out with 65 students of physics at a first year college level, with the purpose of aiming at developing problem solving skills throug training in metacognitive processes, without its statement. The method used was to focus instruction on relevant features of problems, modelling and intepretation of solving processes and cooperative learning. Worksheets, included as a part of the activities in the course, as well as individual interviews were used to collect data.Results and their interpretation are based on detailed descriptions given by the students of the tasks done and the meanings attributed to them. Metacognitive processes sucessfully incorporated by the students are discussed.
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Macintosh File Name: Leon - Physics
Adjusted File Name: Leon-Physics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: It is argued that laboratory experiences may be a worthwhile or essential aspect of science education, but the literature relating to research in this area does not always support these assumptions. While the laboratory may have value for nurturing positive student attitudes and for providing opportunities for students of all abilities to demonstrate skills and techniques (Bates, 1978), it appears that students fare no better with a laboratory experience than without one in developing understanding of chemistry (Novak, 1984).
Keywords: Educational Methods,Philosophy,Research Methodology,Instructional Design,Classroom Techniques,Concept Formation,Constructivism,Control Groups,Qualitative Research
General School Subject: Chemistry
Specific School Subject: General Chemistry-Laboratory
Students: College
Macintosh File Name: Lewicki - Chemistry
Adjusted File Name: Lewicki-Chemistry.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: One consequence of the abundant literature reporting on students' conceptions of science-related phenomena has been the development of so called conceptual change teaching strategies and curricula (cf Duit, Goldberg and Niedderer, 1992). These efforts are typically framed by mental-model based conceptual-change characterizations of learning such as those of Brown and Clement, 1987; Hewson, 1981; Nussbaum and Novick, 1982; Osborne and Wittrock, 1983, Posner, Strike, Hewson and Gertzog, 1982.The aim of this presentation is to explore weaknesses in mental-model based conceptual-change characterizations of meaningful academic learning. This is done by using examples drawn from physics to argue that contextual relationships play a critical role in scientific concept appreciation. Consequently it is argued that science education learning characterizations must take contextual relationships into account.
Keywords: Theories,Concept Formation,Philosophy,Educational Theories,Learning Theory,Learning Processes,Epistemology,,
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject:
Students:
Macintosh File Name: Linder - Meaningful Learning
Adjusted File Name: Linder-MeaningfulLearning.sit.hqx
Abstract: Concept mapping as an evaluation tool has been primarily limited to assessing students' conceptual change. To explore the possibility of using concept mapping as an alternative science assessment, questions regarding validity and reliability have to be answered first. This on-going study is being done in two grade 7 science classrooms. After finishing a unit, students are given both conventional end-of-unit tests consisting mainly of multiple choice items and concept mapping tests. Although the results reported in this paper are inconclusive and incomplete, preliminary results have shown that concept mapping yields moderately high construct validity, consequential validity and internal consistency reliability.
Keywords: Concept Mapping,Construct Validity,Test Reliability,Misconceptions,Individual Testing,,,,
General School Subject: Chemistry
Specific School Subject: Inorganic Chemistry
Students: Junior High
Macintosh File Name: Liu - Concept Mapping
Adjusted File Name: Liu-ConceptMapping.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper describes a method to analyze students' understanding of scientific concepts, by converting essay-type responses into two- and three-dimensional concept maps. In this method, a student's written response is converted into a concept map and then compared to concept maps created by experienced science teachers. The relevancy and validity of the concepts are the main attributes of the rating, which is used to report the size and strength of students' structures of knowledge. The paper describes the concept mapping scoring method, shows examples of students' work (including three-dimensional group concept maps) and discusses various aspects of this method.
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Macintosh File Name: Lomask - 3D Concept Maps
Adjusted File Name: Lomask-3DConceptMaps.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Pupils' assimilation of certain scientific notions is greatly influenced by their pre-existing ideas. In this study we examined pupils' ideas on the non-conservation of volume during the mixing of liquids. More than two thirds of the subjects retained the misconception that the volume of the mixture is the sum of the volumes of the solute and solvent liquids. However, a conceptual change was performed (and maintained in subsequent years) by students to whom a cognitive conflict strategy was applied using a Predict-Observe-Explain method.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Concept Formation,Testing,Change Strategies,Classroom Techniques,Learning Activities,Cognitive Dissonance,Tests,Pretests Posttests
General School Subject: Chemistry
Specific School Subject: Physical Chemistry
Students: Secondary School
Macintosh File Name: Lorenzo-Barral - Volume
Adjusted File Name: Lorenzo-Barral-Volume.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: We created a new technique to observe and favour the cognitive development of young subjects : this technique is based on the use of concrete representations of formal systems (Lowenthal 1972; 1978). These representations consists of sets of objects provided with technical constraints. These constraints make certain actions possible and others impossible. Using simple devices as concrete representations of formal sytems appears very useful for researchers interested in Cognitive Psychology : the technical constraints of the device provide hidden axioms and deduction rules. This creates a simple logical framework within which an objective interpretation of the subjects' productions becomes possible since all the ambiguities due to the use of verbal interactions can be eliminated. Lego bricks constitute a good example of a device that can be used as a concrete representation of a formal system; the bricks must be placed on a baseboard and a subject can only continue a path of bricks by placing more bricks next to the bricks already placed on the board, using flat or right angles : all other attempts yield to technical impossibilities. The axioms hidden in this device are those defining the absolute geometry. It must be noted that such devices can only be used to present a logical problem to the subject and to observe his or her solving strategy at the output level.
Keywords: concept formation, philosophy,educational methods,cognitive development,cognitive processes,cognitive structures,cognitive style,logic,epistemology
General School Subject: behavioral sciences
Specific School Subject: psychology
Students: elementary school students
Macintosh File Name: Lowenthal - Logo
Adjusted File Name: Lowenthal-Logo.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Because of the complexity of concepts in science, science educators have long sought to improve instruction. As research on human learning and problem solving has accumulated, new teaching methods have been developed to enhance cognitive learning. The concept map-interactive videodisc project at Northwest Missouri State University has focused on the advantages of combining the two learning tools. The concepts presented in a large physical science lecture course designed for the non-major have been presented in a more meaningful way through the use of graphic organizers such as concept maps and visually illustrated with videodisc images.Full concept maps are given to the students for specific topics covered in the courses. An example of a concept map handout appears in Appendix A. HyperCard stacks containing the Voyager Videostack resources have been developed to present portions of the concept map and to access images held on the videodisc. The use of the videodisc, a Macintosh computer, and a NView video projector allows the lecturer to rapidly switch between the concept map and the video images. This enables the students to quickly build visual associations with the concepts. This union of word and image has allowed the development of courseware that takes the traditional lecture presentation into a new dimension.
Keywords: educational technology,educational methods,teacher education,interactive video,concept mapping,teaching for conceptual change,,,
General School Subject: physics - chemistry
Specific School Subject: general
Students: undergraduate
Macintosh File Name: Lucido - Concept Maps
Adjusted File Name: Lucido-ConceptMaps.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Today in México many universities are in the position to create teaching laboratories in nuclear physics, thanks to the nuclear applications developed by the National Institute on Nuclear Research (ININ) and the Physics Institute (IFUNAM). With the development of various centres of nuclear research, nuclear reactors and so on, training in experimental physics is going to be more important. In this work a teaching project developed in the Modern Physics Laboratories of the Science Faculty (FCUNAM) is described. In these laboratories the students have their first training with nuclear material and electronics. The students show a lack of information on nuclear interactions and types of radiation, dosis and units used. The different efforts to solve the above described situations are presented. The nuclear applications are growing; it therefore appears that familiarity with methods of nuclear physics should form an essential part of the physics, and sciences, student syllabus.
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Macintosh File Name: Madariaga - Nuclear Physics
Adjusted File Name: Madariaga-NuclearPhysics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: A large body of research has established that children often understand and explain concepts about the earth in ways that are different from scientific explanations. For example, children have been found to believe that the earth is a flat disc or that the earth is round like a ball but we live on the flat part inside the ball (Nussbaum, 1979), that gravity pulls to the "bottom of space" (Sneider & Pulos, 1983), that day and night are caused by the movement of the earth around the sun (Vosniadou, 1992) and that summer is warmer than winter because the earth is closer to the sun (Maria, 1988). Vosniadou (1992) has suggested that as children develop and are exposed to scientific explanations of these phenomena they move from intuitive mental models based on their experience and showing no influence from adult scientific models to synthetic models that are a combination of intuitive and scientific views. Some children then develop scientific models after exposure to current scientific views either incidentally outside of school or through formal instruction, but many retain the intuitive and synthetic models that we characterize as misconceptions even into adulthood. For example, Hazan and Trefil (1991) reported that 21 of 23 graduates interviewed at the 1987 Harvard Commencement had a misconception about the cause of the seasons.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,,Concept Teaching,Misconceptions,Scientific Concepts,Cognitive Dissonance,Change Strategies,Teaching Methods
General School Subject: Earth Science
Specific School Subject: Astronomy
Students: Elementary School
Macintosh File Name: Maria - Earth
Adjusted File Name: Maria-Earth.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This study explored differences in the way novice and experienced students organize and use biological knowledge within the domain of mammals. Subjects were enrolled in a college-level, introductory biology course for nonscience majors (n=25) and an advanced course in mammalogy intended for upper-division and graduate-level students (n=25). Each subject constructed a concept map and then participated in a clinical interview, during which an exhaustive set of descriptive propositions about 20 mammals depicted in line drawings was generated. Subjects subsequently sorted the mammals into homogeneous groups. Results of concept mapping reveal that experienced students possess a substantially more extensive, complex, and integrated knowledge base characterized by significantly greater numbers of concepts, relationships, levels of hierarchy, branchings, and crosslinks. Results of clinical interviews and sorting task demonstrate that these differences are linked to the emergence of a new repertoire of implicit, superordinate concepts which orders students' understandings, the enhanced use of inferential reasoning strategies, and the development of a scientifically acceptable system of assigning class membership.
Keywords: concept formation,research methodology,,cognitive mapping,cognitive development,cognitive restructuring,concept mapping,,
General School Subject: biological sciences
Specific School Subject: zoology (mammalogy)
Students: majors and nonmajors
Macintosh File Name: Markham - Mammals
Adjusted File Name: Markham-Mammals.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This research concerns how people use their pre-existing knowledge to make sense of scientific information presented by the media. It describes a group interview study conducted with Brazilian secondary school students, who were asked to summarise their shared understandings of a text about radioactivity by constructing a semantic network. Proposed nodes included entities and events mentioned in the text while proposed links included class/subset links, activity links (describing actions performed or suffered by elements represented in the nodes) and influence links (describing more indirect interactions). Instructions given emphasised the need for an agreement of what should be represented in the net. The group discussion which accompanied the construction of the net, revealing students' attempts to make their views explicit along the debate, were tape-recorded and aided to clarify the meaning of links and associations made. The analysis proposed measurements of network structures and used a PROLOG program written to reveal which inferences were allowed by each net making a comparison between groups possible. Results show that students' prior conceptions (as assessed in a related study) influence associations made, mostly as long causal chains with few interconnections. Possibilities of using related activities in the classroom are also discussed.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Teacher Education,Philosophy,Concept Formation,Misconceptions,Concept Teaching,Teaching for Conceptual Change,Constructivist Teaching,Constructivism
General School Subject: Chemistry
Specific School Subject: Physical Chemistry
Students: College & High School
Macintosh File Name: Martins - Semantic Networks
Adjusted File Name: Martins-SemanticNetworks.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The subject ³energy of chemical reactions² has been referred/reported as a theme in which the students demonstrate several difficulties of an adequate understanding (Johnstone, 1980; Finley, Stewart and Yarroch, 1982; Granville, 1985; Lawrenz, 1987; Shaibu, 1988). Some alternative conceptions in this area have been identified and are discribed (Cachapuz and Martins, 1987; Martins, 1989). For example, high school students may think that in some chemical reactions one of the reactants may play a more important role than the other(s), the so called ³principal reactant² (PR) (Cachapuz and Martins, 1988). The idea of ³principal reactant² is probably a specific case of a more general difficulty on the part of students in perceiving a chemical system in its entirety and it may be considered as a contemporary version of the duality between the sulphur and mercury principles used by 13th century Alchemists to explain natural phenomena. As referred by historians of science (Caron and Hutin, 1964) the sulphur principle would explain the active and warm properties of materials (hence the idea of ³principal reactant²) whereas the mercury principle would explain passive and cold attributes.
Keywords: concept formation,teacher education,philosophy,concept formation,misconceptions,concept teaching,teaching for conceptual change,constructivist teaching,constructivism
General School Subject: chemistry
Specific School Subject: physical chemistry
Students: college & high school
Macintosh File Name: Martins - Chemistry
Adjusted File Name: Martins-Chemistry.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Over the last fifteen years there has been considerable research interest in the student's perceptions of phenomena in such areas as energy, motion, the particulate nature of matter, electricity, and light usually at the primary and lower secondary school level. However there has been comparatively little research on students' perceptions and understanding of quantum physics. A review of research, and a conceptual analysis of the underlying philosophical assumptions underlying the learning and teaching of quantum physics is presented. An interim report is presented on a new study to elicit students' conceptions of quantum phenomena.
Keywords: concept formation,philosophy,research methodology,concept formation,misconceptions,constructivism,atomic theory,pilot project,data interpretation
General School Subject: earth science
Specific School Subject: quantum mechanics
Students: advanced
Macintosh File Name: Mashhadi - Physics
Adjusted File Name: Mashhadi-Physics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Research in the last fifteen years has indicated a burgeoning interest in examining the mathematics practice in distinct cultures (e.g., Brenner, 1985; Lancy, 1983; Saxe, 1991) and everyday situations within cultures (e.g., Carraher, Carraher & Schliemann, 1985; de la Rocha, 1985; Harris, 1987; Lave, 1988). Research on mathematics practice in distinct cultures has tended to look at the mathematics practice of a whole culture, whereas research on mathematics practice in everyday situations within cultures has focused on one situation or work context (e.g., grocery shopping, carpentry) within a culture. Some of this research (e.g., Carraher, Carraher & Schliemann, 1985) has contrasted mathematics practice in school with mathematics practice in everyday situations and noted the gap between these two.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Comcept Formation,Teacher Education,Problem Solving ,Teaching Methods,Mathematical Concepts,Constructivist Teaching,Teaching for Conceptual Change,Learning Processes
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Arithmetic
Students: Jr. High School
Macintosh File Name: Masingila - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Masingila-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract:
Keywords: social discrimination,concept formation ,educational methods,equal education,educational strategies,scientific concepts,computers,problem solving,cognitive structure
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: astronomy
Students: elementary school
Macintosh File Name: Matar - Gender
Adjusted File Name: Matar-Gender.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The results of a preliminary enquiry regarding pupils' conceptions on propagation of sound are presented. About six hundred sixteen years'old french children have answered before any lessons about waves to paper and pencil questionnaires. The same tendencies towards a mechanistic and single-notion based reasoning appear as those put forward for the propagation of a signal on a string.The signal is a material object created and set in motion by the source. It materializes a "supply" given to it by the source. This supply, a mixture of force, energy, speed, is the basis of the spontaneous reasoning. It leads to a link between the propagation velocity and what happens at a given point of the medium: this velocity depends on the source, on the signal amplitude and can decrease with time. The medium is a passive support even useless: sound can propagate in the vacuum.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Research methodology,,Misconceptions,Models,Scientific Concepts,Data Interpretation,Adaptive Testing,
General School Subject: Information Science
Specific School Subject: Physics
Students: High School
Macintosh File Name: Maurines - Sound
Adjusted File Name: Maurines-Sound.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: If concept development is inhibited by inconsistency in what is presented to learners, then introductory mechanics is open to criticism. For example, pressure is used to refer to four conceptually distinct phenomena, scalar tension and vector force are routinely combined, and Newton's third law is regularly mis-applied in three classes of interaction. Means for achieving consistency are suggested.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Teacher Education,,Scientific Concepts,Misconceptions,Teacher Background,,,
General School Subject: Physical Science
Specific School Subject: Mechanics
Students: College Bound/college freshmen
Macintosh File Name: McClelland - Mechanics
Adjusted File Name: McClelland-Mechanics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Young and Mermelstein (1992) extended Popper's Falsification Methodology, which focused on the "external" - testable hypotheses performed by the members of the scientific community, to include the "internal" - the psychological processes of the individual. Young and Mermelstein (1992) described the Process of Science as a coordination of the external and the internal in four phases. They are as follows: Phase I - Conjectures and the exploration of error (mistakes) by the individual investigator. Phase II - Emergence of deductions and partial understanding from the investigator's conjectures and mistakes; hypotheses are generated. Phase III - Attempts at falsification of these hypotheses by the investigator and the scientific community are initiated. Phase IV - Implications are made from these hypotheses which are not conceivable from rival falsified hypotheses. In the present paper we seek to provide further support for the four phases describing the Process of Science by considering the parallels between biological evolution and the development of scientific knowledge in the individual as well as in the scientific community. Based on the evolutionary model and the four phases, misconceptions regarding the Process of Science are discussed and implications for teaching and learning are presented.
Keywords: Theories,Philosophy,Educational Methods,Learning Theory,Epistemology,Cognitive Processes,,,
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Technical Mathematics
Students: Two Year College Students
Macintosh File Name: Mermelstein - Science
Adjusted File Name: Mermelstein-Science.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Both in the USA and in Britain it has long been demonstrated that the socio-economic background of the home the largest single factor in determining children¹s educational attainment. However parents¹ active support and involvement in children¹s education can make a major difference. This paper describes IMPACT, an educational initiative in which parents are systematically involved in their children¹s learning of mathematics through the use of weekly teacher selected take home tasks. Starting in 1985 with 12 elementary schools in inner London, the project now runs in over 3000 schools across England, Scotland and Wales. It is the largest project of its kind in Europe, and , in addition to the intervention programme, IMPACT supports a flourishing research centre. Drawing upon some of the research findings , this paper will describe how the programme works, the percentages of parents who participate and some of the effects upon children¹s learning.
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Macintosh File Name: Merttens - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Merttens-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The purpose of the present study was threefold: (a) to examine misconceptions related to the construction of linear graphs; (b) to analyze the cognitive processes underlying the development of the different kinds of misconceptions; and (c) to investigate the effects of a metacognitive intervention on students¹ sense of graphs. The intervention was derived from current theories in the areas of social cognition and metacognition, and from systematic observations of adolescents solving complex mathematical problems. Participants were seventh grade students randomly selected from two Israeli schools (four classes). Intact classes were randomly assigned into either an experimental or a control group. Results indicated that overall students encountered serious difficulties in constructing (and interpreting) linear graphs. Five kinds of misconceptions were identified: constructing an entire graph as a single, one point; misunderstanding the notion of covariation; conserving the form of an increasing function under all conditions; syntax errors; and confusing a graph and a picture. Further analyses indicated, however, significant differences between the experimental and control groups on students¹ sense of graphs. While the misconceptions were robust in resistance to ³conventional² instruction, the metacognitive intervention facilitated the construction of a problem representation.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Testing,Misconceptions,Metacognition,Mathematical Concepts,Cognitive Processes,Cooperative Learning,Mastery Learning
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Algebra
Students: Junior High School
Macintosh File Name: Mevarech - Linear Graphs
Adjusted File Name: Mevarech-LinearGraphs.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract:
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,computer Simulation,Cognitive Restructuring,Cognitive Dissonance,Learning Strategies,Instructional Design,Cognitive Structures,Misconceptions
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Mechanics
Students: High School
Macintosh File Name: Monaghan - Motion
Adjusted File Name: Monaghan-Motion.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The continuing proliferation of studies about student misconceptions is only one of several reasons why a conceptual scheme is in order, a set of categories designed to bring some form and regularity to the record of instances of the general phenomenon. More compelling even than the volume of studies is the need engendered by the search for efficacious forms of instruction. Existing efforts to categorize misconceptions have relied upon the rough and ready framework of the several disciplines. While it may be expedient to distinguish misconceptions in terms of their affiliation with the subject matters of physics, chemistry, and so on, they may also be differentiated on the basis of parameters more strictly pedagogical in nature. What is required, in short, is a functional typology of misconceptions -- functional in the following senses: a typology that (1) attends to the function of misconceptions in the student's conceptual ecology; (2) is designed to facilitate pedagogical purposes; and (3) functions to bring greater coherence to the ongoing stream of research. The psychological construct of insight, it is suggested, may serve as the basis for the development of a typology of this kind.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Theories,Philosophy,Misconceptions,Cognitive Psychology,Abstract Reasoning,Learning Theory,Constructivism,Epistemology
General School Subject: N.A.
Specific School Subject:
Students: Secondary & Elementary
Macintosh File Name: Moody - Insight
Adjusted File Name: Moody-Insight.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: At the core of the theory of evolution stands the fundamental principle of natural selection. The legitimacy Darwin succeeded in conferring on the theory was due to the plausibility of natural selection as a mechanism of evolutionary change. Half a century prior to the appearance of The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Lamarck (1809) had offered a full-scale theory of evolution, but one that was fatally flawed by the inadequacy of the proposed mechanism of change. The proper presentation of evolution in the classroom is a complex, multi-faceted affair; but the essence of successful instruction must be to convey the meaning and appropriate application of the principle of natural selection.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Testing,Research Methodology,Cognitive Formation,Cognitive Measurement,Cognitive Tests,Concept Teaching,Comprehension,Cognitive Development
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Biology
Students: Secondary
Macintosh File Name: Moody - Evolution
Adjusted File Name: Moody-Evolution.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The focus of my comments is on some misuses of concept maps (C-maps) and Vee diagrams (V-diagrams or V-maps) as metacognitive tools and on the importance of recognizing the need for meaningful learning to change conceptions. By doing this, I hope to address, at least indirectly, the main questions suggested for these plenary sessions, namely : 1) What are the key problems and issues relevant to metacognition? , 2) What are major research findings that serve as foundation for improvement of metacognition? , and 3) What are promising directions for future research and application of knowledge?
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Macintosh File Name: Plenary - Metacognitive Learn
Adjusted File Name: Plenary-MetacognitiveLearn.sit.hqx
Abstract: The objective of this study was to introduce concept mapping as an instructional strategy in 7th grade mathematics in a Brazilian public school. Since students did not have the concept of "concept" and were not familiar with concept mapping, we started out with a fairy tale, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". In groups, they identified concepts such as "good", "evil", "vanity" and "revenge", and organized them in a concept map. Moving on to 7th grade mathematics, we had good results in terms of the students' acceptance of the new strategy. We alternated concept mapping in mathematics and in other areas of study : a chapter of a book and the lyrics of a song. In addtion to achieving our objective, we got the feeling that students from the experimental group were more able to build the equations of a mathematical problem and to find relevant data in problems. The computational ability of experimental and control groups seemed to be the same. The study is continuing in 8th grade mathematics.
Keywords: educational methods,,,concept mapping,,,,,
General School Subject: mathematics
Specific School Subject: geometry
Students: junior high school
Macintosh File Name: Moreira - Concept Mapping
Adjusted File Name: Moreira-ConceptMapping.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper addresses an issue that relates to the understanding of how EFL students deal with their (mis)conceptions of time/relativity when using verb tenses in English. Why do EFL students have so much problem using the perfective aspect of tenses ? Are these problems related to their concepts of time ? What kinds of concepts do they hold in their conceptual framework ? Is time independent from space for these students ? Is time-space relative for them? Do they see any linkages between the use of tenses and time-space/relativity ?
Keywords: concept formation,educational methods,philosophy,misconceptions,concept teaching,concept mapping,language processing,epistemology,thinking skills
General School Subject: language & literature: methodology & teacher training practices
Specific School Subject: literature: EFL
Students: college
Macintosh File Name: Moreira - Language Learning
Adjusted File Name: Moreira-LanguageLearning.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The research on children's ideas about scientific conceptions in the last two decades has generated a constructivist view of learning that seems to be one of the major influences in science and mathematics education (Matthews, 1992). Despite the great variety of different views that appears in the literature under the same label, there are at least two main features that seem to be shared by the different approaches: that "learning comes about through the learner's active involvement in knowledge construction" (Driver, 1989, p. 481); and the pupils' previous and alternative ideas play a fundamental role in the learning process, as learning is possible only on the basis of what the learner already knows.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Theories,Concept Formation,Concept Teaching,Epistemology,Learning Strategies,Atomic Theory,Learning Process
General School Subject: Science
Specific School Subject: Chemistry
Students: Secondary School
Macintosh File Name: Mortimer - Conceptual Profile
Adjusted File Name: Mortimer-ConceptualProfile.sit.hqx
Abstract: Research on student conceptions in mathematics has documented particular student ideas and described how they are at variance with expert ideas. However, it has neither presented a comprehensive account of student conceptions nor resolved crucial questions regarding the nature and transformation of these conceptions (Smith, diSessa, and Roschelle; in press). Analyses of student conceptions describing errors and misconceptions have focused largely on the "mis-" aspect of student ideas and have not considered conceptions that may be useful, applicable in some contexts, or productive for advancement. On the other hand, while the term "alternative interpretations" shows a certain respect for student ideas, its use misses the point that while there may be many alternative ways to conceive of a domain, there is a mathematically accepted way to think about the subject matter.
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Macintosh File Name: Moschkovich - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Moschkovich-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In a course labeled as 'math methods' for preservice elementary school teachers, the focus is on constructivist philosophy and a description of teaching as synonymous with research. The participants consciously view themselves as teacher-learners by continuously looking at their perception of self in a set of write-ups: "Self-portrait as a Teacher". Three such self-reflections are collected over ten weeks. The data show that the initial stage is a general, often vague, perception and description of a math teacher, reflecting the media portrayal of the necessity of math in schools, followed by confusion and frustration of not knowing math deep enough to explain it to others. The final portrait some resolution of conflict and self-discovery in 'doing' mathematics. In all, the practice of self-regulation becomes progressively more evident. Although teaching is acknowledged as a reflective practice, preservice teacher's process of self reflection is not well known. The self-portraits bring out the profile of a learner, which is helpful in providing the preparation appropriate for individuals and the group and helps in building a learning community of teachers.
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Macintosh File Name: Mukhopadhyay - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Mukhopadhyay-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: A relatively simple request of my preservice elementary methods students to integrate their science and mathematics instructional design tasks evoked an enormous range of strategies, images, frustrations and discussion in my class. Clearly I had touched a sensitive chord. Such passion undoubtedly has foundational roots, but these students were not articulating the causes for these effects, nor could they address the praxis, or the theoretical foundations for their practice. My study looks at the issues of integration between mathematics and science education. I then review the images and justifications for integration put forth by preservice teachers in light of these foundational issues. I end with inferences about the diversity of schema represented by this data and suggestions for a constructivist response in my elementary science and mathematics methods courses.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Philosophy,Educational Methods,Concept Formation,Developmental Stages,Epistemology,Constructivism,Theory Practice Relationship,Teaching Methods
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Arithmetic
Students: Education Majors
Macintosh File Name: Murphy - Math & Science
Adjusted File Name: Murphy-MathScience.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper reports secondary students' understandings of acids, bases, and pH which emerged in semi-structured interviews conducted as part of a larger study of the effects of three levels of instrumentation on students' understandings of acids, bases, and pH (1, 2). Students were interviewed prior to performing a series of acid-base titrations, and they were interviewed again after the series of titrations. The verbal data and drawings from these interviews were analyzed to extract common adequate understandings of acids, bases, and pH, as well as common inadequate understandings, called alternative conceptions, of acids, bases, and pH. In this paper I report the four models of matter which students used in their interviews to explain their understanding of acid-base chemistry.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Theories,Research Methodology,Misconceptions,Kinetic Molecular Theory,Fundamental Concepts,Protocol Analysis,Qualitative Research,Computer Uses in Education
General School Subject: Chemistry
Specific School Subject: Inorganic Chemistry
Students: College Bound
Macintosh File Name: Nakhleh - Chemistry
Adjusted File Name: Nakhleh-Chemistry.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This study relates domain specific misconceptions in mathematics to misconceptions in science. A set of propositional relation algebra word problems were constructed. These problems had the key contextual features of familiarity, imageability and variable type which interact with learner characteristics. The errors observed on these algebra word problems were due to the context of the algebra problems as opposed to the structure or content which are the source of scientific misconceptions and errors. Mathematical misconceptions, therefore, appear to be the result of naive cognitive operations which are epistomologically based.
Keywords: Misconceptions,Epistemology,Mathematical Concepts,Learning Theory,Educational Theory,Test Theory,Generalization,Scientific Concepts,Cognitive Development
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Algebra
Students: Secondary & College
Macintosh File Name: Nasser - Algebra
Adjusted File Name: Nasser-Algebra.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In the three decades since Ausubel put forward his assimilation theory of congnitive learning, many changes have occurred in the field of educational psychology and the emerging fields of cognitive science and artificial intelligence. This paper is not a review of these developments, but rather a statement on the current status of Ausubel's theory as seen from the perspective of our research group. We see his theory largely unchanged in terms of basic concepts and principles, although new epistemological ideas, recent ideas from cognitive science, and new metacognitive tools permit new perspectives on the power and value of Ausubel's theory. Thus a research paradigm rooted in his theory may take on substantively new characteristics with powerful implications for teaching and learning.
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Macintosh File Name: Novak - Ausubel
Adjusted File Name: Novak-Ausubel.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The construction of meanings by learners requires that they actively seek to integrate new knowledge with knowledge already in cognitive structure. Ausubel¹s (1963, 1968) assimilation theory of cognitive learning has been shown to be effective in guiding research and instructional design to facilitate meaningful learning. Gowin¹s (1981) Vee heuristic has been employed effectively to aid teachers and students in understanding the constructed nature of knowledge. Concept mapping has been used effectively to aid meaningful learning with resulting modification of student¹s Limited or Inapproproate Propositional Hierarchies (LIPH¹s). conceptual change requires meaningful learning to modify LIPH¹s. World-wide economic changes are forcing major changes in business and industry placing a premium on the power and value of knowledge and new knowledge production. These changes require changes in school and university education that centers on the nature and power of meaningful learning.
Keywords: Conceptual Change, Meaningful Learning, Empowerment, Cognitive Learning, Concept Mapping, Vee Diagrams, Economic Growth
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Macintosh File Name: Novak - Meaningful
Adjusted File Name: Novak-Meaningful.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Most curricula in many countries introduce the idea that matter is formed from particles, to students when they are approximately 13-14 years of age. The reasoning for studying the subject in this age is the assumption that the cognitive development of younger students is not yet ripe enough to handle such "abstract" ideas, while older children already need the particulate model as applied in more advanced subjects as physics, chemistry and in biology.
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Macintosh File Name: Nussbaum - Particles
Adjusted File Name: Nussbaum-Particles.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In September 1991 on the Pedagogical Faculty in Ljub ljana, Slovenia, a Tempus project with the title Primary Science Development has begun in which pre-service and in-service education of primary teachers is being developed with the help of three institutions: Centre for Educational Studies, King's College, London, England; National Institute for Curriculum Development SLO, Enschede, Netherland; and Department for Didactics of Physics, Karlsruhe University, Germany. For in-service training, a 20-day course is being prepared by science teachers of the Pedagogical Faculty and advisers of the Board of Education which constitute the Tempus working group in Ljubljana.
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Macintosh File Name: Oblak - Science Education
Adjusted File Name: Oblak-ScienceEducation.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Every student brings to science class their conceptions of the world. Because of students wide variety of experiences, each concept will hold a somewhat different meaning for each student. The general meaning of some conceptions will be shared, while others will be unique. Many of the conceptions are scientific misconceptions associated with intuitive ideas or preconceptions acquired prior to school (Driver, 1987). Wandersee (1986) noted that many of the misconceptions students hold are the same as conceptions held by pre Newtonian scientists, and younger students are more likely to hold out dated scientific conceptions.
Keywords: concept formation,testing,,misconceptions,scientific concepts,test construction,distractors,,
General School Subject: biological sciences
Specific School Subject: biology
Students: nonmajors
Macintosh File Name: Odom - Diffusion & Osmosis
Adjusted File Name: Odom-DiffusionOsmosis.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract:
Keywords: philosophy,educational methods,concept formation,epistemology,realism,learning motivations,cognitive style,curriculum design,
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: physics
Students: secondary school
Macintosh File Name: Osborne - Beyond Constructivism
Adjusted File Name: Osborne-BeyondConstructivism.sit.hqx
Abstract: This analysis of the responses of 322 students to a practical chromatography task uses data collected during spring 1986 as part of the Second International Science Study [SISS] organized by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement [IEA]. The sample, drawn from 39 schools, is a subset of the national sample of U.S. students. The task required students to observe the dispersion of four dots of colored ink on filter paper when it absorbed water, record their observations, and explain the change in a dot of black ink. Students recorded details of their work‹observations and their explanations of these‹in test booklets. These written records were analyzed to provide a detailed description of student responses, and of concepts invoked by students to explain their observations. To show the types of concepts used in these explanations, a categorization of student responses was produced, in an attempt to group together responses using similar concepts. Literature on explanation in science education, and on student difficulties with chromatography tasks is reviewed. The results of analysis of the student responses are presented and discussed.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Testing,,Scientific Conepts,Error Patterns,Individual Testing,,,
General School Subject: Chemistry
Specific School Subject: Physical Chemistry
Students: High School Freshmen/Junior High
Macintosh File Name: O'Rafferty - Chromatography
Adjusted File Name: O'Rafferty-Chromatography.sit.hqx
Abstract: Analysis of a scientific article is part of the Biology Matriculation examination (Bagrut ) in Israel. This task which is followed by planning a continuation of the research study appears to be difficult for many students and the mean score is lower than in other parts of the examination. In order to enhance meaningful reading of scientific texts and the ability to plan a continuation to the research, a unit was prepared that explains the nature of scientific research and guides the analysis of scientific texts with the aid of categories based on Gowin's Vee and concept mapping. Seventy eight 11th and 12th grade students analyzed 3-4 articles using our unit. Compared to the pretest as well as the control group, the experimental group did significantly better in the posttest. One of the 12th grade classes in the experimental group received the highest score in the country in this section of the Bagrut examination. Based on the research the use of concept mapping and Gowin's Vee are recommended as means of promoting meaningful learning in the analysis of scientific articles as well as enhancing the integration of theory and practice.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Theories,testing,Vee Diagramming,Concept Mapping,learning theory,inquiry,pretest posttest,evaluation
General School Subject: Biology
Specific School Subject: scientific reading
Students: secondary students
Macintosh File Name: Peled - Scientific Reading
Adjusted File Name: Peled-ScientificReading.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The problem of students' low achievement in mathematics has been extensively investigated with respect to a variety of possible interacting variables including emotional. Mathematical learning may differ from learning in other subjects and probably requires special student and teacher efforts due to its level of symbolic language, abstraction and the hierarchical development of logical schemata. The still prevailing academic way of presenting new concepts, the frequently behavioristic automation in learning and applying procedures, the failure (on the part of teacher) to connect mathematics with real life situations, in short, the poor and unimaginative teaching has created and preserved social stereotypes, beliefs, fears, negative attitudes and anxiety which constitute major obstacles.
Keywords: Teacher Education,Educational Methods,Concept Formation,Misconceptions,Preservice Teacher Education,Teacher Education Programs,Learning Motivation,,
General School Subject: Behavioral Sciences
Specific School Subject: Psychology
Students: Education majors
Macintosh File Name: Philippou - Teacher Preparation
Adjusted File Name: Philippou-TeacherPreparation.sit.hqx
Abstract: The plenary session began with a brief presentation by the two session leaders outlining two views of conceptual change or meaningful learning and the nature of the classroom environment that can facilitate such learning. Each presentation set out several assumptions about student conceptions, student learning, the teaching process, and change. The following two sections outline these assumptions.
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Macintosh File Name: Plenary - Conceptual Change
Adjusted File Name: Plenary-ConceptualChange.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper reports some findings of a study on 14-15 year old pupils´ ideas about combustion. Patterns in pupils´ explanations across a range of questions are described and analysed, in order to gain insight into the consistency or inconsistency of their explanations. Data have been collected by a questionnaire survey which uses mainly open questions, some of which are general questions about combustion and others which use specific examples. Responses have been analysed using systemic netwoks. Categories from networks have been combined to produce patterns of explanations that could be considered as theories. The general characteristics of these theories, the consistency with which they were used, and implications for teaching and learning are discussed.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Philosophy,Constructivism,Scientific Concepts,Misconceptions,Data Interpretation,,
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Macintosh File Name: Prieto - Combustion
Adjusted File Name: Prieto-Combustion.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Science textbooks are a major component of any curriculum and have an important influence on learning processes. Unfortunately, it has been found that many of these resources do not present some of the aspects that should characterize a good science textbook. The purpose of this study was to analyze the scientific quality of the contents and diagrams about the structure of matter that appear in chemistry textbooks used by ninth-grade venezuelan students. It was examined the exactitude and accuracy of : a) the most important concepts and ideas about atoms and molecules; b) the illustration of Rutherford-Bohr's nuclear model and c) the illustrations related to the arrangement of particles in the states of matter. Several inaccurate and imprecise concepts, ideas and illustrations were found. Therefore, these chemistry textbooks could lead students to construct erroneous ideas about the structure of matter.
Keywords: theories,concept formation,research methodology,atomic theory ,misconceptions,content amalysis,fundamental concepts,,
General School Subject: chemistry
Specific School Subject: physical chemistry
Students: secondary school
Macintosh File Name: Pujol - Chemistry
Adjusted File Name: Pujol-Chemistry.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In the works that inaugurated the research on student's alternative conceptions (VIENNOT, 77 and SALTIEL, 78) we have already found similarities and differences between these ideas and some from the conceptions of ancient scientists. Researches developped by the Brasilian Physics Teaching Group at the Federal Fluminense University (UFF), have taken into account different aspects of History in order to understand the way of the students' thinking. The opposite, concerning to the students, has been used too: from their conception to understand the History of Science. To go through these two ways has been suggesting us some new educational strategies to cause the conceptual changing we have in mind. In a previous work we have studied the students' conceptions about circular motion dynamics (QUEIROZ and KRAPAS-TEIXEIRA, 1991). Searching the History we have found a track coming from a centrifugal "endeavour to recede from the centre" to the centripetal force, too much similar to the same students' conceptions track. Taking an analogous way, the present work, concerning to the rigid body dynamics teaching, begins in classroom and goes to History. The results from the research with college students' conceptions about the dynamics of the gyroscope are being presented in a parallel paper in this Seminar (KRAPAS-TEIXEIRA and QUEIROZ, 1993). Our purpose now is to study the development of this subject in the History of Science, indicating similarities and differences between scientists' and students' conceptions.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Philosophy,,Scientific Concepts,Epistemology,Constructivism,Fundamental Concepts,Learning Processes,Concept Teaching
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Mechanics
Students: College
Macintosh File Name: Queiroz - Gyroscope
Adjusted File Name: Queiroz-Gyroscope.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Researchers have found that physicists and skillful problem solvers possess a hierarchically organized knowledge base, and typically use qualitative model-based reasoning to analyze and explicate real world phenomena. To facilitate students¹ use and understanding of models as a primary disciplinary resource, we designed a model-centered curriculum. This curriculum focuses on a network of concepts important for understanding hydrostatics. Traditional curriculums have students perform experiments with concrete materials in the laboratory, immersing objects in a liquid and measuring the displaced volume of the liquid to verify Archimedes¹ principle. But these experiments do not readily provide sufficient explanatory leverage because many of the important elements of a full explanation (for example, buoyant force), cannot be directly observed. The curriculum includes many of these traditional-style experiments with laboratory materials, but coordinates them with a set of interactive computer programs that support inspection and direct manipulation of the underlying theoretical entities. This paper reports results of a pilot study conducted with middle school students that tracked their initial ideas about forces in fluids and the conceptual changes and development that occurred as they progressed through the last three units of the curriculum.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Concept Formation,Educational Technology,Empowering Students,Learning Activities,Thinking Skills,Abstract Reasoning,Scientific Concepts,Educational Innovation
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Fluid Mechanics
Students: Middle School
Macintosh File Name: Raghavan - Science
Adjusted File Name: Raghavan-Science.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Physics Problem Solver (PPS), a computer program based on a hypothesized successful problem solving approach was developed to investigate problem solving patterns in freely falling bodies. There were three basic patterns identified during the analysis of the problem solving moves of the objects. These were linear, circular and looping. Out of 1,200 solutions done by 60 subjects, 24 different patterns were obtained. There were classified into four general patterns: linear, linear with circular, linear with looping and combinations of the linear, circular and looping. Motion on a plane and two-body problems were found to be the most difficult problems in freely falling bodies for the subject of this study. The misconceptions obtained were mostly on directions of velocity and displacement and the implicit given in the problem. The significant result of t-test for main gain score and the reduced number of misconceptions committed after treatment using Physics Problem Solver (PPS) indicate the effectivity of PPS as a tool for problem solving instruction.
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Macintosh File Name: Rodriguez - Free Fall
Adjusted File Name: Rodriguez-FreeFall.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The aim of this research project is to design teaching strategies in order to improve students' under standing of the concept 'toxicity'. This implies the improvement of students' understan ding of the inter play of body processes.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Research Methdology,Cognitive Restructuring,Cognitive Mapping,Cooperative Learning,Curriculum Design,Protocol Analysis,
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Biology
Students: High School
Macintosh File Name: Roebertsen - Toxicity
Adjusted File Name: Roebertsen-Toxicity.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This work has been brought about from our interest on studying what has been happening to the relations which are established between the subjects in a classroom (teacher and student) and the object of knowledge (the subject of chemistry).We think of teacher and student as active subjects of their own knowledge, social historically shaped beings. Our aim was basically to transfer the teacher's from his usual "place" so that he could ponder on what has the teacher's action been like in the classroom.We have tried to analyze his pondering about his role as mediator, his concepts on teaching, apprenticeship and the object of knowledge.
Keywords: Teacher Education,Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Teaching Experience,Constructivist Teaching,Concept Teaching,Teaching Methods,Fundamental Concepts,Scientific Concepts
General School Subject: Behavioral sciences
Specific School Subject: Psychology
Students: Adults
Macintosh File Name: Romanelli - Atom
Adjusted File Name: Romanelli-Atom.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The usefulness of schematic learning in mathematics (Skemp, 1971) at all levels, cannot be over-emphasized. Nowhere is this more relevant than at university, at which level mathematics assumes a particularly high degree of abstractness. The abstract conceptual nature of mathematics has been pointed out by many writers (Skemp, ibid.; Collis, 1972) as the chief reason why mathematics learning is more demanding at all levels.
Keywords: Concept Formation,,,Misconceptions,Mathematical Concepts,Concept Formation,Comprehension,Cognitive Psychology,Cognitive Ability
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Algebra
Students: Undergraduate
Macintosh File Name: Ruberu - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Ruberu-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper reflects on the implications of a five year programme of research and development with non-specialist teachers of science in primary (elementary) classrooms in England. Within a constructivist framework defined by University-based researchers, groups of teachers explored the viability of a range of methods of eliciting children's ideas prior to helping children to develop their thinking in the direction of conventional scientific understanding. This research led to the development of curriculum materials, (Nuffield Primary Science) generated in a similar manner, with groups of teachers operating under normal classroom conditions. The outcomes and implications of this programme of research and curriculum development are described and critically discussed. Particular reference is made to the needs of teachers wishing to operate within a constructivist orientation, bearing in mind the constraints of normal classroom conditions.
Keywords: philosophy,educational methods,concept formation,epistemology,realism,learning motivations,cognitive style,curriculum design,
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: physics
Students: secondary school
Macintosh File Name: Russell - Primary Classrooms
Adjusted File Name: Russell-PrimaryClassrooms.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper suggests that Hawkins' concept of ³critical barriers² can be applied to the experiences of individuals learning to teach. Data are drawn from mid year interviews and end of year personal stories by students in a physics method class in a post degree preservice teacher education program. Student teachers' assumptions and expectations are seen as barriers to the intended learning processes of the preservice program. Seven barriers are identified and illustrated. These barriers may be particularly high for science, math and engineering graduates, whose undergraduate programs implicitly reject the value of personal voice and experience.
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Macintosh File Name: Russell - Learning to Teach
Adjusted File Name: Russell-LearningtoTeach.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Scientific language is frequently considered to be one of the major hurdles for novice scientists. Unless they can be initiated into the language and culture of science pupils will not progress even to competence in the field. The problem seems to be common to all countries and the decrease in the number of children studying science coupled with a lack of public understanding of science is causing concern in many places (Couper, 1993). In many parts of the developing world the medium of instruction is not the students' home language. The reasons for this have been documented elsewhere (e.g., Rutherford and Nkopodi,1990), but what is of importance here is the fact that in countries such as South Africa, with many vernaculars, it is unlikely that the medium of instruction will be the mother tongue of the majority of the population in the foreseeable future.
Keywords: Concept Formation,,,Comprehension,Scientific Concepts,Misconceptions,,,
General School Subject: Physical Science
Specific School Subject: Physics
Students: High School
Macintosh File Name: Rutherford - Science Teaching
Adjusted File Name: Rutherford-ScienceTeaching.sit.hqx
Abstract: As startling as many students' misconceptions are, teachers' lack of awareness of their students' ideas are equally confounding. This study has sought to quantify 132 teachers' predictions of students' ideas both before and after a high school science course. Using a subset of Project STAR's 47-item astronomical misconception test, the pre- and post-test responses of 330 secondary school earth science and astronomy students from around the U.S. were compared to teachers' predictions. Teachers were found to have reasonable expectations of students' initial knowledge state, but vastly overestimated student gains as a result of instruction. In fact, students showed no average gain at all on this instrument. This study concludes that traditional courses appear to have little effect on students' understanding of astronomical concepts, yet most teachers believe that their effect on students is large. The questionable validity of teacher-constructed tests for measuring conceptual change and teachers' lack of belief in the enduring nature of misconceptions are discussed as possible explanations for teachers' own misconceptions about how much students learn in science courses.
Keywords: teacher education,testing,concept formation,misconceptions,teachers,teaching for conceptual change,test validity,,
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Macintosh File Name: Sadler - Teachers
Adjusted File Name: Sadler-Teachers.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper will present the results of two experiments that examine certain aspects of children's metascientific knowledge. These experiments examine whether children use metascientific criteria such as conceptual coherence and empirical consistency to evaluate competing explanations for natural phenomena.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,,Cognitive Development,Scientific Concepts,Thinking Skills,Metacognition,,
General School Subject: Chemistry
Specific School Subject: Earth Science
Students: Elementary School
Macintosh File Name: Samarapungavan - Metascience
Adjusted File Name: Samarapungavan-Metascience.sit.hqx
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Macintosh File Name: Sanmarti - Science
Adjusted File Name: Sanmarti-Science.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Perhaps no discipline exemplifies the conceptual order of which James writes better than mathematics, whose concepts cannot be detected at the surface of the world of form, but require the development of a theoretical mode of thought. Mathematics concepts are typically of the type designated by Vygotsky as "scientific" rather than "everyday"; they are most often the subject of school instruction rather than the result of environmental interaction; and unlike everyday concepts which can be spontaneously constructed, they require pedagogical mediation for their appropriation.
Keywords: concept formation,educational methods,philosophy,cognitive structures,curriculum design,epistemology,cognitive restructuring,semiotic forms,
General School Subject: mathematics
Specific School Subject: algebra
Students: secondary school
Macintosh File Name: Schmittau - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Schmittau-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Understanding how misconceptions are formed can make it easier for classroom teachers to help their students uncover and overcome their misconceptions. Teachers, however, cannot be expected to help children uncover misconceptions if they hold these misconceptions themselves. This study attempts to discover which common misconceptions are held by pre-service elementary teachers and to what they attribute these misconceptions. A questionnaire containing several common earth and space science misconceptions was administered to 97 pre-service elementary teachers. A discussion of the concepts on the questionnaire followed during which participants were asked to reflect on their ³incorrect² responses. Results from the survey are compared to an earlier cross-age survey conducted by the author in which the same questions were asked. The study suggests that many misconceptions originate in the classroom and that pre-service elementary education teachers have many of the same misconceptions that their future students will have.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Teacher Education,,Teacher Background,Change Strategies,Misconceptions,Scientific Concepts,Concept Teaching,Cognitive Dissonance
General School Subject: Earth Science
Specific School Subject: Space Science
Students: Education Majors
Macintosh File Name: Schoon - Earth & Space
Adjusted File Name: Schoon-EarthSpace.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The implications of constructivist epistemology and conceptual-change ideas have received less attention in teacher education than in the case of teaching science to pupils. However, some paradoxes mentioned in the literature apply to teacher education in special ways:1. Even if we accept the validity of a constructivist epistemology, does that imply a specific teaching strategy?2. If we say we want learners to construct their knowledge, but we define success according to whether they change their conceptions in a certain direction, are we trying to have it both ways?These questions have two layers of meanings in the context of teacher education: what to "tell" teachers about instruction, and how to "tell" them. Teachers continually construct their views of the nature of learning and teaching science. These views are major determinants of how they carry out their teaching functions. How the informal and formal experiences of teacher education influence thses views in an important issue.
Keywords: teacher education,concept formation,educational methods,constructivist teaching,cognitive restructuring,constructivism,inservice teacher education,preservice teacher education,emppowering students
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Students: student teachers
Macintosh File Name: Schultz - Teacher Education
Adjusted File Name: Schultz-TeacherEducation.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: It is readily clear to the participants at this conference that misconceptions in science and mathematics are ubiquitous. They can be documented in almost every subfield of science and many commonly share one important feature in that they are difficult to modify. The purpose of this paper is to explore this issue of resistance to change by looking at what factors underlie this resistance and to investigate whether such resistance to change is a common feature of human functioning in areas other than scientific reasoning. Such an investigation may provide insight in to how to modify such misconceptions. We begin our exploration with an initial look at the work on the resistance to change of scientific misconceptions.
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Macintosh File Name: Schumacher - Knowledge
Adjusted File Name: Schumacher-Knowledge.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of teaching and learning science concepts in a high school setting and draws upon theoretical frameworks relating to both personal and social construction of knowledge. The analysis is based upon case study data which document the planning and teaching of a short unit of work on air pressure as well as the progress made by students (aged 11-12 years) in response to that instruction. The ways in which the teacher attempts, in class, to promote 'shared understandings' with students are considered through an analysis of discourse between teacher and students and between students; the ways in which individual students' understandings progress are monitored and are related to the developing 'shared understandings' of the classroom and to an analysis of 'learning demands' for this conceptual area. This study is part of an ongoing programme of work into teaching and learning science concepts which is being carried out by members of the Children's Learning in Science (CLIS) Research Group in collaboration with local teachers.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,,Concept Teaching,Learning Processes,Misconceptions,Instructional Design,Learning Activities,
General School Subject: Information Science
Specific School Subject: Physics
Students: Junior High
Macintosh File Name: Scott - Air Pressure
Adjusted File Name: Scott-AirPressure.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In this work we have studied the extension, consistency and stability of the correct and alternative answers of university students´ to different questions concerning electric circuits. We also explore the utility of a theoretical constructs: "the cognitive mediators" (Viennot, 1985) in order to guide description of students´ reasonning. We have chosen the topic of electric circuits for various reasons: i) it is very important in scientists´, and engineers education; ii) there is evidence of rooted and widespread alternative interpretations in this field (Shipstone et al.1988) ; and iii) it seems difficult to attribute an empirical or phenomenological origin to such interpretations. The present study try to give responses to the following questions: a) in which proportion are alternative interpretations shared by university students of different levels? ; b) to what extent are university students using the same interpretations in different situations? ; and c) are traditional teaching methods sufficient to make students replace their interpretations for correct ones?.
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Macintosh File Name: Sebastia - Electric Circuits
Adjusted File Name: Sebastia-ElectricCircuits.sit.hqx
Abstract: My concern with the problem of misconceptions and text books is part of a broader plan to improve the introductory university physics curriculum. I will argue here that some aspects of orthodox physics do nothing to overthrow some kinds of naive preconceptions and that they can also actively introduce new, learned, misconceptions. By preconceptions I mean ideas that students generate independently of school learning, while incorrect or unorthodox knowledge constructed during formal learning will be called misconceptions.At the most trivial level, mistakes or wrong information in texts can generate misconceptions, but that is not my concern here. Although language is part of the structure of knowledge, there are some kinds of misconceptions that can be traced simply to the orthodox language of physics, without reference to the overall structure of the subject. Because physics is reductionist in its approach to the world and its knowledge is organised hierarchically, other kinds of misconceptions can arise from the structure of the knowledge and the associated traditional teaching sequences. Among those aspects I include the use of simplistic examples and idealised models as well as the tradition of progressing from the simple to the complex and from special cases of principles to more general formulations. All of those features are represented in standard physics texts.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Philosophy,Misconceptions,Educational Strategies,Cognitive Structures,Holistic Approach,,
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject:
Students: Undergraduate
Macintosh File Name: Sefton - Textbooks
Adjusted File Name: Sefton-Textbooks.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Learning as a conceptual change is today, in the science teaching and learning process, an idea increasingly accepted by researchers and teachers. Although there isn't yet a theory of conceptual change unanimously accepted, many researchers propose different teaching models to promote a conceptual change in the classroom (e.g., Posner et al., 1982; Cosgrove and Osborne, 1985; Gil Perez and Carrascosa, 1985; Driver and Oldham, 1986; Giordan, 1989). Some of them examine the conditions under which a concept is accepted, retained, reorganized or changed, suggesting, simultaneously, activities for the school teaching. This leads to a "constructivistic pedagogy" (Cheung and Taylor, 1991), where one of the main goals is to facilitate the change of personal and diverse ideas of the students to the socially constructed and accepted knowledge of science. In this process a reflective dimension of learning seems to be regarded as essencial (Gil Perez and Carrascosa, 1985; Harlen, 1985; Hashweh, 1987).
Keywords: educational methods,,,learning activities,educational strategies,teaching methods,,,
General School Subject: natural science
Specific School Subject: chemistry
Students: elementary school
Macintosh File Name: Sequeira - Reflective Thinker
Adjusted File Name: Sequeira-ReflectiveThinker.sit.hqx
Abstract: It is already two decades since the time science educators and researchers started concentrating on students' alternative conceptions. Throughout these years they succeeded on both describing students' conceptions on almost all the concepts taught in school science and on identifying their major features (Driver, 1989). Besides, evidence was collected to support the hypothesis that alternative conceptions interfere with the teaching and learning of science, whatever the students' academic ability and the teaching quality of their teachers (Halloun & Hestenes, 1985).
Keywords: theories,concept formation,,test theory,concept formation,misconceptions,,,
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: mechanics
Students: secondary school
Macintosh File Name: Sequeira - Motion
Adjusted File Name: Sequeira-Motion.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: I have come across many students for a decade while teaching, showing some disinclination/aversion to learn mathematics due to the simple reason that the subject was either not well presented or wrongly presented. Some of them have shown remarkable progress when once they understand the meaning,the language, symbols and theinter-connections among the words, topics etc. The mathematician's language is distinct from the ordinary language. A shift in emphasis from Memorisation to Meaning, Computation to concepts, the what to the why & how will enable students to avoid the mistakes, carry out the logical operations correctly and solve the problems with ease and confidence. I have attempted to classify the general misconceptions into four categories A,B,C & D. I have tried to give illustrations to justify how the misconception has occured and to seek remedial steps.
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Macintosh File Name: Seshan - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Seshan-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to communicate some of the findings from our investigations of elementary school students and their teachers as they worked with microcomputer based labs (MBLs). This study is drawn from a three year curriculum research and development project in which we explored the feasibility of extending MBL technologies from their current place in colleges and secondary schools into the realm of the elementary classroom. We have grown to appreciate the immense potential of MBLs as tools to enhance children¹s opportunities to investigate and better understand the natural world. While recognizing the multitude of barriers to widespread adoption of this technology (i.e., teacher training, computer availability, and equipment costs) there is growing evidence that suggests that the learning gains possible with the appropriate application of MBLs makes these tools justifiable additions to elementary school children's science experiences.This study focuses upon the efforts of a third grade teacher and her students as they worked over an eight week period through a set of science activities written for use in conjunction with a light sensing probe. Analyses of videotapes of classroom sessions, samples of students¹ work, interviews with the teacher, and research field notes have led to a set of assertions about the role that the MBL technology played in the students¹ conceptions of light. As each of these assertions are presented, samples of classroom incidents will be offered as supporting evidence for these claims. Because of the naturalistic methodology used in this research, we must be cautious when trying to extend our findings to other situations (Borg and Gall, 1989). Nevertheless, there seem to be sufficient reasons to pursue further efforts at increasing the availability of MBL technologies in our elementary schools.
Keywords: concept formation,educational terminology,,constructivism,computer uses in education,teaching for conceptual change,misconceptions,naturalistic observations,
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: optics
Students: elementary school
Macintosh File Name: Settlage - Light
Adjusted File Name: Settlage-Light.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: During the last half century there has been worldwide recognition that one of the most important goals of science education is the development of students' understanding of the nature of science (Science for All Americans, 1989; Science 5-16: A Statement of Policy, 1985). Despite efforts to bring this about, research continues to show that for a variety of reasons, many students and teachers hold views about the nature of knowledge acquisition which have been judged to be limited or inadequate (Lederman, 1986, 1992; Carey and Strauss, 1968; Rubba, Horner and Smith, 1981). There has been no lack of research on the nature of both student and teacher ideas about the nature of science and its impact on science learning. Studies have been conducted to identify teachers' views of the nature of science. Work has been devoted to changing students' and teachers' views, and investigations have been conducted to determine how teacher views of science influence classroom practice. Reflection on the research by Lederman (1986, 1992) challenges the view that student and teacher views are currently "adequate or inadequate." He suggests that the problem is complex, and our definitions of adequacy must be clarified. No research studies have been found which investigate the changes that occur in student teacher thinking during participation in independent investigations, the actual involvement with the experience of science. The purpose of this paper is to describe the approach and findings of a research project presently in progress which studies changes in student teacher thinking about the nature of systematic investigation in science during their participation in an independent research project. A review of the literature on teacher and preservice teacher views on the nature of science thinking is useful in framing the present project and is presented in the following sections.
Keywords: Teacher Education,Research Methodology,Educational Methods,Epistemology,Inquiry,Methods Courses,Preservice Teacher Education,Data Interpretation,Qualitative Research
General School Subject: N.A.
Specific School Subject: N.A.
Students: Student teachers
Macintosh File Name: Shapiro - Student Teachers
Adjusted File Name: Shapiro-StudentTeachers.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: During the last twenty years, descriptions of the science misconceptions held by students and adults have become an increasingly popular component of the educational research literature (Wandersee and Mintzes, 1987). While much is known about the kinds of private theories people hold, far less is known about how to successfully replace misconceptions with accepted scientific views. Thus far, few pedagogical strategies has proven to be successful in producing long term conceptual change (Lawson, Abraham, and Renner, 1989).
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Teacher Education,Misconceptions,Change Strategies,Teaching Experience,Inservice Teacher Education,Experimental Learning,Scientific Concepts
General School Subject: Earth Science
Specific School Subject: Astronomy
Students:
Macintosh File Name: Shore - Astronomy
Adjusted File Name: Shore-Astronomy.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: FOCIS is a recently-completed five-year project to develop a pro gram that integrates science instructional planning and teacher en hance ment. Separate modules of videotaped and printed materials have been developed (1) for use by science meth ods instructors in college-based courses for teachers and teacher candidates and (2) for in service teachers and their local cur ricu lum coordinators or workshop leaders in school district-based programs for teacher enhancement and curriculum design. The underlying FOCIS inten tion is to help teachers approach their curriculum planning and teaching in ways that restruc ture their own under standing, as well as their students' understanding, of the science topic. From a construc tivist perspec tive, the prima ry plan ning strategy employs studying the structure and evolu tion of stu dents' ideas on the science topic -with assistance from a science consultant who has expertise on the topic and from a "learning activity" consultant who has experience and expertise on teaching the topic by means of activities that help to challenge and refine students' ideas in the direction of scientists' ideas on the topic. Concept mapping and associ ated interviews constitute the main FOCIS strategies for studying student ideas. The primary FOCIS teaching strategy employs accessing, analyzing, and challenging student ideas. The paper emphasizes the nature and use of the FOCIS videotape/print modules for teachers (and teacher candidates) and their "science methods" instruc tors and for in-service teachers and their in-service leaders.
Keywords: Teacher Education,Philosophy,Concept Formation,Constructivism,Scientific Concepts,Concept Mapping,Constructivist Teaching,Inservice Teacher Education,Methods Courses
General School Subject: Natural Sciences
Specific School Subject: K-12
Students: Education Majors
Macintosh File Name: Shymansky - Instruction
Adjusted File Name: Shymansky-Instruction.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Our primary purpose in this paper is to describe a strategy of using language arts activities, especially children¹s literature, as a platform for teaching and learning science in the early grades. The strategy represents one facet of a more comprehensive effort, working with the notion of using children¹s ideas as the focus of teacher enhancement and instructional planning. Thus, we have included background on our initial ³Focus On Children¹s Ideas about Science² (FOCIS) project and its sequel, ³Parents, Activities and Literature² (Science PALs), the two projects on which this paper is based.
Keywords: concept formation,learning strategies,learning motivation,,,,,,
General School Subject: science
Specific School Subject:
Students:
Macintosh File Name: Shymansky - Children Literature
Adjusted File Name: Shymansky-ChildrenLiterature.sit.hqx
Abstract: The project on Scope, Sequence, and Coordination of Secondary School Science (SS&C), initiated by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) in the fall of 1991 is described as a "...major effort to restructure science teaching at the secondary level." SS&C calls for "...the elimination of the tracking of students, recommends that all students study science every year for six years, and advocates the study of science as carefully sequenced, well-coordinated instruction in physics, chemistry, biology, and earth/space science" (NSTA, 1992). A prime concern of science educators in general, and chemical educators in particular, is whether there is a sound research base for this large scale reform effort. The question being examined in this paper is: Are the initiatives that the SS&C project calls for consistent with the reported findings of how students learn chemistry?
Keywords: educational methods,concept formation,theories,misconceptions,curriculum design,cognitive processes,empowering students,teaching for conceptual change,atomic theory/ kinetic molecular theory
General School Subject: chemistry
Specific School Subject: inorganic chemistry
Students: high school/ junior high
Macintosh File Name: Singh - Chemistry
Adjusted File Name: Singh-Chemistry.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: A conceptual change model was found to be effective in amending college precalculus student's misconceptions about the distributive law. The model, originally outlined by Driver (1987), consisted of five steps: (a) orientation: introduction to the topic and motivation; (b) elicitation: explication of student ideas and misconceptions; (c) restructuring: student exchange and clarification of ideas, exposition of conflicting meanings, and reception to change; (d) application: consolidation of new or restructured ideas; (e) review: reflection upon and reinforcement of concepts. The model was implemented over a six month period in a classroom setting with all students (N = 68) enrolled in two intact sections of a community college precalculus course. Results indicated that distributive law misconceptions were widespread among the students despite two weeks of instruction on each topic: algebra, logarithms and exponential functions, and trigonometry. Students amended their misconceptions during the implementation of the conceptual change model, and for most students this amendment persisted over time.
Keywords: Mathematics,Educational Methods,Misconceptions,Teaching Methods,Concept Formation,Cognitive Restructuring,Educational Strategies,,
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Precalculus or Algebra and Trignometry
Students: Two-year College
Macintosh File Name: Skane - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Skane-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The purpose of this research is to devise a classification of sources of nonexperiential misconceptions, characteristic of learning Chemistry, and to establish experimental data verifying that categorization. The categories of error sources were developed based on a review of the literature, from the 23 years of teaching experience of the investigator, and from discussions with other experienced Chemistry teachers. A summary of the background research is presented below. Of necessity, it is considerably abbreviated, but the majority of the studies used in the categorization have at least been referenced in order to provide the reader with the resources used. A misconception is defined as a mental representation of a concept which does not correspond to currently held scientific theory. The term misconception, as used in this study, refers exclusively to those misconceptions concerning science. Misconceptions have increasingly been the focus of research in Science Education over the past decade, with the vast majority of studies focusing on the discipline of Physics (Clement, 1983; McCloskey, 1983; Champagne, Gunstone, and Klopfer, 1985; Duit, 1987). These experiential misconceptions are also referred to as alternative conceptions (Driver, 1983), intuitive conceptions (Clement, 1983), or naive conceptions (McCloskey, 1983). In each case the author is describing a concept which has been understood, at least to some extent, through everyday experience and interaction with the phenomenon involved. Examples of experiential misconceptions occur in connection with phenomena such as motion, energy, and gravity. Misconceptions pertaining to chemical phenomena, however, are fundamentally different because the existence of atoms and molecules are not directly within the realm of everyday experience. Misconceptions pertaining to these more abstract phenomena result from some instructional experience, within or outside of the classroom, including self instruction. For purposes of this study, they will be called instructional misconceptions. Because the nature of misconceptions in Chemistry is basically different from experiential misconceptions in both origin and kind, investigation should prove fruitful in identifying their sources and providing a mechanism for addressing them directly.
Keywords: concept formation,educational methods,research methodology,concept formation,misconceptions,language processing,cognitive processes,error patterns,protocol analysis
General School Subject: chemistry
Specific School Subject: college prep. chemitry
Students: college bound
Macintosh File Name: Skelly - Chemistry
Adjusted File Name: Skelly-Chemistry.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Educators realize the significance of theory driven critical thinking for students as they learn skill performance in laboratory experiments, technical skills, and practice professions. In order for skill performance to take on rational meaning, the learner needs to be able to identify the specific scientific theory base upon which skill performance is built. Consequently, educators stress connecting underlying scientific theory and skill performance.
Keywords: educational methods,theories,research methodology,theory practice relationship,curriculum design,scientific concepts,vee diagramming (heuristics),learning strategies,quasiexperimental design
General School Subject: biological sciences
Specific School Subject: physiology
Students: college
Macintosh File Name: Smith - Vee Heuristics
Adjusted File Name: Smith-VeeHeuristics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: There is a double learning context in studying science through learning about the nature of science. Epistemology is the method of gaining knowledge as well as the grounds on which such knowledge stands. This means that the history of human learning in the field of science cannot fail to instruct us about the nature of science. There is more doubt, however, on the cultural, social and personal nature of the history required for this purpose.
Keywords: theories,concept formation,educational methods ,scientific methodology,theory practice relationship,epistemology,learning strategies,,
General School Subject: science
Specific School Subject:
Students: grade 8-10
Macintosh File Name: Solomon - Science
Adjusted File Name: Solomon-Science.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: A majority of the work investigating students' conceptual understanding has been conducted since the mid 1980s. Studies reveal that even after a year of chemistry instruction, secondary students lack conceptual understanding of basic chemical concepts. The last research on education (Andersson, Bjorn 1990, Briggs i Holding, 1986, Meheut, Martine 1989) focus on the necessity of not confining to the analysis of only one phenomenon or question. We ought to explore more thoroughly the level of construction, on part of the pupils, of the basic concepts that lead to the interpretation of phenomena in chemistry. Our intention is to know what the pupils conserve in a chemical change in order to know how they explain that change to themselves. As most research works on eduaction recommend, we will work with the pupils' ideas, through its material translation into written graphism as a thinking tool. We start from the fact that any rational explanation bases itself upon a conservative scheme, therefore if we get to know what the pupils actually conserve, we will know how they explain themselves chemical change. We think that this workline would allow us to go further into the analysis of the pupils' explanations and to know if the fact of working on the consevative aspects in class permits us to progress in the interpretation of chemical phenomena. The objective is not to carry out a simple descriptive study of the pupils' ideas about the questions and the phenomena analysed, we also want this to be an explanatory analysis of the results. The exploratory study includes an analysis of two questions about two phenomena closely linked to daily life and the explanations corresponding to a laboratory experiment carried out during the instruction.
Keywords:
General School Subject:
Specific School Subject:
Students:
Macintosh File Name: Solsona - Chemical Change
Adjusted File Name: Solsona-ChemicalChange.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This study focused on the problem of cellular respiration for several reasons. First and most importantly, cellular respiration is critical to an understanding of several of the organizing conceptual schemes of the discipline, including energy flow in natural ecosystems and metabolic activities of multicellular organisms such as digestion, respiration, circulation, and excretion. Second, the topic of cellular respiration is taught at the middle school, high school, and university levels and in a wide range of courses and contexts. Third, it is poorly understood by students and judged to be a difficult topic by many teachers (Igelsrud, 1989). This study explored and documented the frequencies of scientifically acceptable and alternative explanations associated with the chemical events of cellular respiration and associated organismic phenomena in college students. Using concept maps, clinical interviews, and an open-ended instrument, the study examined the extent to which conceptual difficulties persist in beginning students before and after initial instruction and remain intact among advanced undergraduate and graduate students despite subsequent instruction in upper-level courses.
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Specific School Subject:
Students:
Macintosh File Name: Songer - Cellular Respiration
Adjusted File Name: Songer-CellularRespiration.sit.hqx
Abstract: It is now widely acknowledged that students' misconceptions in science do impede their meaningful understanding of and good performance in the subject. A search in the literature reveals that textbooks, reference books, teachers, language, cultural beliefs and practices are some of the principal sources of high school students' misconceptions of many science concepts including biology. In this paper, some of the misconceptions students harbor in biology which originate from each of these sources are reviewed using cognate studies and documents. The implications of the conclusions from the review for biology education are addressed.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Research Methodology,Concept Teaching,Concept Mapping,Teaching Methods,Learning Strategies,Vee Diagrams,Multitrait Multimethod Technique
General School Subject:
Specific School Subject: Biology
Students: High School
Macintosh File Name: Soyibo - Biology
Adjusted File Name: Soyibo-Biology.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Change is not an easy concept to be accepted. If change involves someone else's lives, then we usually are willing to accept change, but when it affects our own lives directly, we tend to get just a little uncomfortable. Change in the way science is taught is no exception to this conflict. For the past century there have been multiple efforts to look at how science is taught and to improve the methods of instruction, to come up with the perfect formula, as it were, to teaching science. Unfortunately, we do not have clones teaching science, nor do we have clones learning science and therefore we are hard pressed to develop one perfect way to teach science. Perhaps the most notable science education reform in recent history is that which took place immediately after the Russian Sputnik was launched and the U.S. realized that their mortal enemy was more advanced in science and space technology. The changes that took place in science education during the 1960's did encourage more children to consider careers in science. As good as some of the programs were that came out of the 60's for students interested in sciences, the programs seemed to widen the gap between those interested in science and those who had no interest in science. Application to everyday life was missing. We had succeeded in producing more scientists, but we failed to impart an understanding of the importance of science in every person's life.
Keywords: philosophy,educational methods,concept formation/teacher education,school restructuring ,teaching methods,problem solving,thinking skills ,scientific concepts,teacher preparation
General School Subject: science
Specific School Subject:
Students: k-12
Macintosh File Name: Speece - Science Education
Adjusted File Name: Speece-ScienceEducation.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of the visual cues used by learners of mathematics in South African Schools. Visual cues were defined as part of the students mental processes and not as an element of the diagram. Participants between the ages of 12 and 18 were interviewed using three dimensional diagrams that may be experienced in the mathematics classroom. Four visual cues used by the students were indentified. Two of the influences of the use of these cues on the spatial perception of students are discussed.
Keywords: Concept Formation,,,Cognitive Processes,Misconceptions,Math Concepts,,,
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Visualization
Students: Junior High
Macintosh File Name: Sproule - Visual Cues
Adjusted File Name: Sproule-VisualCues.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The aim of this research is to explore the use of Bioview, an information handling package specifically written for use in biology education, as an aid to students' understanding of science concepts. A database concerned with photosynthesis provides a focus for the research. The software uses a novel pictorial approach to represent data corresponding to three interacting variables, and runs within the graphical user interface provided by Microsoft Windows. Thus this research spans two areas of interest: (i) students' understanding of science concepts (particularly those concerned with photosynthesis), and (ii) users' interactions with graphical user interfaces. Of particular interest is the interplay (positive and negative) between these two areas.
Keywords: Educational Technology,Reserch Methodology,concept Formation,Computer Assisted Instruction,Computer Simulation,Qualitative Research,Network Analysis,Concept Formation,Misconceptions
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Biochemistry
Students: High School Seniors
Macintosh File Name: Squires - Photosynthesis
Adjusted File Name: Squires-Photosynthesis.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Questions related to multiculturalism and curriculum have recently moved to the center of contemporary educational debate. Multiculturalists are raising questions that pose a fundamental challenge to those traditional forms of knowledge that have assumed Western canonical thought ought to compose the core of school curricula. Among the questions raised by multiculturalists are "whose culture are we teaching?", "whose knowledge is of most worth?", and "who benefits and who is harmed by current approaches to curricula?" In the process of raising such troubling questions, multiculturalists have pointed to the current failure to address adequately the literature, art, music, world view, and epistemologies of numerous minorities, including women, Hispanics, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, and gays and lesbians among others. In other words, what proponents of core or traditional liberal arts curricula have posed as our common heritage (e.g., the views of those like E.D. Hirsch 1987, Bloom, 1987, Ravitch and Finn 1987, Schlesinger 1991), is not really common but a heritage drawn from the frameworks of those who have dominated society and educational discourse (i.e., mostly white, male, and middle class).
Keywords: epistemology,feminism,racial relations,,,,,,
General School Subject: all sciences
Specific School Subject:
Students: all
Macintosh File Name: Stanley - Multiculturalism
Adjusted File Name: Stanley-Multiculturalism.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In the last 20 years, many researchers in mathematics and science education have studied students' mathematical and scientific conceptions and reasoning. Most of this research is content-specific. It was found that students hold alternative ideas that are often not in line with accepted scientific frameworks. In our joint work in both mathematics and science education, it became apparent that many of these alternative conceptions are based on the same intuitive rules. We have so far identified two such rules: "The more of A the more of B", and, "Everything can be divided by two". The first rule is reflected in students' responses to many tasks, including all classical, Piagetian conservation tasks (conservation of number, area, weight, volume, matter, etc.), in all tasks related to intensive quantities (density, temperature, concentration, etc.), and in tasks related to infinite quantities. The second rule is observed in students' responses to tasks related to successive division of material and geometrical objects and in successive dilution tasks. In this paper we shall describe and discuss the first rule and its relevance to science and mathematics education.
Keywords: Concept Formation,(Intuitive Rules),,Cognitive Development,Mathematical Concepts,Scientific Concepts,,,
General School Subject: Science, Mathematics
Specific School Subject:
Students: k-Adults
Macintosh File Name: Stavy - Math & Science
Adjusted File Name: Stavy-MathScience.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper presents the perceptions of teachers who have been involved in a project that piloted an innovative in-service model (TRIAD), which is a partnership between classroom teachers, their administrators, and professional development persons (in this case, university personnel). The TRIAD project seeks to assist teachers in becoming constructivists about their own teaching; that is, they engage in specific activities that are designed to create within them conceptual change about the teaching/learning process. In this model, teachers become researchers of the teaching/learning process and directly apply what they learn. As a result, they transform their own classrooms and become agents for change in their schools and their districts. This paper focuses on teachers¹ perceptions of: the value and importance of the TRIAD partnership, the value of the teaching for conceptual change model (CCM), the changes they saw in their students and in themselves, the components of the model they were comfortable with and continued to use over a long period of time, and what were their perceptions of barriers that prevented or discouraged them from using various components. We will also make recommendations on possible ways to deal with these barriers.
Keywords: Teacher Education,Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Teaching for Conceptual Change,Inservice Teacher Education,Misconceptions,Transfer of Training,Concept Teaching,Constructivist Teaching
General School Subject:
Specific School Subject:
Students: Adult
Macintosh File Name: Stepans - Barriers
Adjusted File Name: Stepans-Barriers.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Today's constructivists see learning to be context-bound, and emphasize domain specific knowledge structure. Moreover, they see learning as an adaptive process in which the learners' conceptual schemes are progressively reconstructed in keeping with a wider range of experiences (Driver, 1989). Knowledge is thought to grow through a process of equilibration and knowledge schemes confronting new experiences. It seems that children may progress in their understanding of science concepts by way of intermediate notions that, although pre-scientific, are necessary precursor to understanding organized scientific content knowledge (Osborne, 1984)
Keywords: Philosophy,Concept Formation,Teacher Education,Constructivism,Cooperative Learning,Cognitive Development,Humanism,Writing Strategies,Curriculum Design
General School Subject: Science
Specific School Subject:
Students:
Macintosh File Name: Stinner - Science Stories
Adjusted File Name: Stinner-ScienceStories.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Throughout the past decade there have been sustained and far reaching efforts to reform education in the United States, These reform efforts began with calls for increased rigor and have moved towards an emphasis on the development of students' conceptual understanding. In 1983, the authors of A Nation at Risk criticized the dilution of curriculum and instruction in American schools and argued for an increased focus on academic subjects and higher standards for graduation. In the past five years there have been new calls for national curriculum reform (AAAS, 1989; NCTE, 1988; NCISE, 1989, NCTM, 1989; NRC, 1989, NCSSS, 1988; NSTA, 1989). This cycle of reform focuses not only on content--what should be taught--but also on pedagogy--how the content should be taught. It embodies a shift from the behavioral and didactic orientation of the 1970s and early 1980s to the conceptually-based egalitarian framework being propounded in the 1990s.
Keywords: educational methods,theories,concept formation,learning processes,change strategies,projection theory,theory practice relationship,cognitive restructuring,misconceptions
General School Subject: math & science
Specific School Subject:
Students: student teachers
Macintosh File Name: Stoddart - Teacher Education
Adjusted File Name: Stoddart-TeacherEducation.sit.hqx
Abstract: Mathematics is a subject which is based on formal logic and hence uses formal symbols. This fact is often veiled by the emphasis generally placed in school, on the technical aspects of Mathematics. And no wonder, that generally, teachers refrain from introducing the logical aspects of Mathematics in class ‹ it is very difficult for most students. We are satisfied if the students show ‹ using SKEMP'S notions ‹ (Skemp 5) an instrumental understanding rather than a relational understanding.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Theories,Concept Teaching,Learning Strategies,Misconceptions,Cognitive Processes,Abstract Reasoning,Piagetian Theory
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Mathematical Logic
Students: High School Freshmen
Macintosh File Name: Stupp - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Stupp-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The literature indicates that a contextually rich instructional environment may help students to acquire more meaningful learning in science. This exploratory study examines students¹ study environments at home and at school along with their perceptions concerning the relationship of science instruction to their career choice and work. The sample included tenth grade students in twelve high schools and technical centers geographically distributed across New York State. Data were collected Spring 1993 using a researcher validated and reliable questionnaire in opscan machine readable format. Findings show that most students have a home study environment that includes items such as calculators, printed materials and encyclopedias, along with situations that could support experiential learning. They tend to consider school a safe place, have a sense of belonging and like to attend school. On average, they spend 1 to 3 hours completing science homework in school each week and only 1 to 3 hours at home on all subjects. They see limited relationship between science instruction and their work experiences. Experiences and examples from agriculture and the environment would enhance their understanding of science and visa versa. In essence, students are engaged in the study of science, but fail to see a relationship to the world of work and perceive that more meaningful learning would result from contextual examples and experiences.Please note that this was an oral presentation only.
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Specific School Subject:
Students:
Macintosh File Name: Sutphin - Career Choice
Adjusted File Name: Sutphin-CareerChoice.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The classical experiment is constructed around three major classes of variable. These structural characteristics, which have become known more recently by science curriculum developers as Œkey¹ variables (Gott et. al., 1988), are used as the organisational basis for the construction of programmes for teaching and assessment in science: the INDEPENDENT variable the CONTROL variable the DEPENDENT variableThe major focus of this paper is an investigation of 11-year old pupils¹ perceptions of variable-based investigations and experimental design. The general term I have used to describe this aspect of science education is variable-handling.
Keywords: concept formation,testing ,educational methods,learning processes,abstract reasoning,thinking skill,informal assessment,test validity,discovery learning
General School Subject: science
Specific School Subject: science
Students: age 11
Macintosh File Name: Swatton - Procedural Frameworks
Adjusted File Name: Swatton-ProceduralFrameworks.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper is a review of articles and published reports concerning misconceptions about electricity and electrical circuits. This comprehensive review of literature identifies and describes the misconceptions of students from age 8 through adults, and methods of instruction that have addressed the misconceptions. The review of articles indicates that misconceptions about electricity and electrical circuits may be divided into two primary categories, (a) the concept that current is consumed in a circuit, and (b) the concept of a battery as a source of constant current. Methods of instruction that are purported to be effective in correcting misconceptions have been presented with implications for teaching, teacher education and further research.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Teacher Education,,Instructional Design,Teaching for Conceptual Change,,,,
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Electronics
Students: High School
Macintosh File Name: Tallant - Electricity
Adjusted File Name: Tallant-Electricity.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This paper reports some preliminary findings from an on-going action research study on the teaching of values in science curriculum. Generally the study had two aims, one was to help teachers in the teaching of values in their science class, and the other was to study the possibility of introducing action research as a means of in-service teacher education in the future. This introduction explains how the image or conception of science became an issue to be considered in this study too.
Keywords: educational methods,teacher education,concept formation/research methodology,educational strategies,teachers,learning process,,,
General School Subject:
Specific School Subject:
Students:
Macintosh File Name: Tan - Values
Adjusted File Name: Tan-Values.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The aims of this paper are: 1) to characterize computer exploratory software; 2) to identify the roots of this kind of software; 3) to present a model to design computer exploratory environments for science and mathematics; 4) to discuss some of the basic issues of the model; and 5) to analyze some programs developed in the framework of the model. The model is based on findings in learning and in recent developments of computer graphic environments. It assumes that: 1) learning is a process of enculturation, a process of becoming familiar with ideas and representations; 2) exploratory software should be integrated with other resources; 3) exploratory software should allow direct manipulation of concrete-abstract objects and the exploration of multiple representations of a phenomenon.
Keywords: science education, mathematics education, computers, simulations, exploratory environments, learning
General School Subject:
Specific School Subject: science & math
Students: high school
Macintosh File Name: Teodoro - Computer Software
Adjusted File Name: Teodoro-ComputerSoftware.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Over a wide range of subject areas students exhibit persistent concep tions alternative to the scientific concepts. The same alternative conceptions are reported to exist across many countries, within a variety of cultural and environmental contexts. Also, many alterna tive conceptions show striking similarities with difficulties encoun tered in the historical development of science.What is the reason of these similarities? Is intuitive science learned or triggered? And, if similar brain structures are responsible for common sense theories, in what way then are cultural factors still important in the teaching-learning process? The role of cultural factors will be discussed on the basis of literature. Data collected by the authors in the Netherlands, Indonesia and countries in Africa are also taken into consideration. A distinction is proposed between alternative conceptions which are universal and some which are culturally dependent. The same distinc tion is made as regards ways of reasoning and epistemology. The effectiveness of methods for the remediation of alternative concep tions is suggested to be strongly determined by cultural aspects of the teaching-learning process.
Keywords: concept formation,,,misconceptions,concept formation,,,,
General School Subject: science
Specific School Subject: physics
Students: secondary school
Macintosh File Name: Thijs - Cultural Factors
Adjusted File Name: Thijs-CulturalFactors.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Concepts related to heat and temperature are renowned for presenting students with conceptual problems. Research findings involving secondary school students before formal teaching and university students enrolled in science degrees give evidence that the use of the traditional approach concerning these concepts, does not promote conceptual change. In an attempt to overcome these situation an alternative approach to the teaching of heat and temperature at an introductory level was designed and implemented. The model for teaching has an underlying constructivist perspective and the proposed changes to the tradicional approach are based on the above cited research findings. The study was conducted by two university teachers and two secondary school teachers. The latter implemented the teaching model in their classes. During the first year the pilot study, providing an opportunity for the training of the school teachers, enabled the improvement of the teaching model in the next year. The findings suggest that the model has potentialities for promoting a better understanding of the phenomena concerning heat and temperature. In the all process the role of action research involving the two categories of teachers acting as researchers, was also analised and proved to be a very useful and efficient activity for in-service teacher education.
Keywords: Teacher Education,Educational Methods,Concept Formation,Teaching for conceptual Change,Educational Strategies,Misconceptions Inservice Teacher Education,Constructivist Teaching,Scientific Concepts,Secondary School
General School Subject: Thermodynamics
Specific School Subject:
Students: Physics
Macintosh File Name: Thomaz - Heat & Temperature
Adjusted File Name: Thomaz-HeatTemperature.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: For experienced physicists, real-world knowledge and physics knowledge are inseparable, but for novices the two knowledge stores are often only sporadically and tenuously connected. Evidence will be reported from studies indicating that for students physics language does not always describe or evoke real-world behavior, nor do real-world situations always evoke physics concepts. In particular, a study of students' written explanations to ³ what if . . ?² questions in elementary mechanics provided data on the types of explanations students produce as output, including substantial use of everyday language. A follow-up study presented students with pairs of pre-written explanations to these questions and asked them to indicate their preferences. We found that not only do students prefer more formal types of explanations to "intuitive" explanations written in everyday language, they had greater difficulty recognizing when "intuitive" explanations were correct.
Keywords: physics,concept formation,,language processing,concept formation,learning processes,mechanics,scientific concepts,computer uses in education
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: mechanics
Students: college
Macintosh File Name: Touger - Physics
Adjusted File Name: Touger-Physics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: A lot of science teachers think that the kinetic particle model is too difficult and abstract for middle school students. During the last years, a lot of new methods of teaching science, called constructivistic methods, have been introduced. In this paper, we present a way of teaching the particle model by using several of these constructivistic methods combined with more traditional teaching methods. We used the model to explain daily life phenomena and problems in connection with experiments. We have taught the unit to students from grade 6 to 9. The students have answered an extensive written questionnaire concerning the study. The teachers have also answered a written survey and have been interviewed as well. Students´ knowledge has been tested in two tests one month after the unit was finished; one using everyday language and one using scientific language. The project is still under evaluation, but thus far we can draw some conclusions: Middle school students are in fact mature enough to learn the essence of the kinetic particle model, and the teaching methods applied in the project had a stimulating effect on girls interests in physics.
Keywords: constructivism,Kinetic Molecular Teory,Learning Activities,Learning Strategies,Teaching Methods,Experimental Learning,Writing Strategies,Concept Mapping,Language Processing
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Thermodynamics
Students: Junior High School
Macintosh File Name: Tveita - Kinetic Particle Model
Adjusted File Name: Tveita-KineticParticleModel.sit.hqx
Abstract: A considerable amount of work has focussed on children¹s Œalternative conceptions¹ in science and their resistance to change. The nature of conceptual change is still, however, the subject of debate. The related question of the stability of children¹s conceptions across contexts has not been satisfactorily answered. In this study, small groups of children, ranging in age from 5 to 13, experimented with a range of activities illustrative of Œair pressure¹. Transcripts of their discussions and resulting explanations, together with interview data, indicate the fluidity and context-dependence of children¹s ideas. Analysis of these and a sequence of written probes indicates a developmental factor in children¹s knowledge transactions within small groups, in their explanatory styles and conceptions, and in the consistency of their explanations across contexts. The impression this data gives is one of incremental growth in explanatory conceptions, and in the range of contexts to which they are applied.
Keywords: concept formation,educational methods,,cognitive restructuring,developmental stages,scientific concepts,classrooom techniques,language processing,
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: fluid mechanics
Students: Elemantary school
Macintosh File Name: Tytler - Explanations
Adjusted File Name: Tytler-Explanations.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Some characteristics of spontaneous thinking in physics students, in relation to kinematics, were reported by Saltiel and Malgrange in 1980. One of them is this: speed, the distance which has been traversed in a motion, and the trajectory of a moving object are viewed as independent of a frame of reference.This characteristic was confirmed by Villani and Pacca in 1987, when they analyzed the answers given by a group of Brazilian physics graduate students to two problems on the speed of light and the change of the frame of reference (pp 55-66).At the end of two formative courses on special relativity, we gave in greater Lisbon, we had the opportunity to administer the two Villani and Pacca' problems and another question on the relativity of motion. The answers of 53 secondary teachers with a great range of experience in teaching (varying from 39 years of teaching to 1 year) were analyzed and we found the same kind of spontaneous thinking as observed in the Brazilian students. This communication intends to report this research involving Portuguese physics teachers, divulge its results, and to make some considerations on the teaching of the relativity of mechanical magnitudes.
Keywords: concept formation,teacher education,theories ,misconceptions,abstract reasoning,teachers,cognitive processes,inservice teacher education,relativity
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: mechanics
Students: student teachers
Macintosh File Name: Valadares - Spontaneous Reason
Adjusted File Name: Valadares-SpontaneousReason.sit.hqx
Abstract: Student misconceptions (or alternative conceptions) of current and voltage have received ample attention from researchers. Alternative conceptions found have been remarkably universal. Results of Cohen et al. (1983) in Israel, Shipstone (1984) in UK, Dupin and Johsua (1987) in France, Duit and von Rhoneck (1985) and Maichle (1982) in Germany, Licht (1990) in the Nether lands, Beh et al. in Malaysia (1991), and McDermott and Shaffer (1992) in the USA, van den Berg et al. (1992) in Indonesia, Shipstone et al. (1988) in various countries in Europe, and Kuiper et al. in Africa (1985) show a high degree of similarity: Students have problems distinguishing current and voltage, many students think electric current in consumed in a circuit, voltage sources are often considered as sources of constant current rather than of constant voltage, frequently parts of the circuit are considered as independent (local or sequential reasoning) while actually most circuit changes will affect the whole circuit.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,,Misconceptions,Teaching for Conceptual Change,Cognitive Restructuring,Sequential Learning,,
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Electric Circuits
Students: Junior High School
Macintosh File Name: van den Berg - Electricity
Adjusted File Name: vandenBerg-Electricity.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: This study was part of an on-going research program to analyze student and teacher questioning during conversations about science. Data sources included audio-tapes of discussions in fifth grade classes in a suburban parochial school, lesson plans, copies of student written work, and taped conversations with two collaborating teachers. A less experienced teacher observed a more experienced teacher conduct several discussions about the phases of the moon. During the first discussion, the more experienced teacher moved through a series of questions that she had prepared in a written lesson plan. During a subsequent discussion, she allowed students to raise issues that she regarded as tangential. The frequency of student questions was greater during the second discussion than the first. When conducting her own discussion about the moon, the less experienced teacher chose to use the more structured approach. Both teachers experienced dilemmas in deciding between asking questions that followed the students' leads in thinking and asking questions that moved their own agendas forward.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Teacher Education,Methodology,Inquiry,Learning Processes,Teaching for Conceptual Change,Classroom Techniques,Educational Strategies,Participatory Research
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Astronomy
Students: Elementary School
Macintosh File Name: van Zee - Questioning
Adjusted File Name: vanZee-Questioning.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: The world of mathematics is an ideal world : points, lines, planes have no thickness; it is possible to see three objects but no one has ever met the number « three ». This explains why representations are so important in mathematics. These representations rest upon conventions : e.g. in cartesian graphs, the dots we draw represent mathematical points, with no thickness, and two different dots always represent two different points. Usually, as far as pure mathematics (algebra, analysis) are concerned, these conventions are fairly clear for the students. As this paper shows, problems arise when mathematical tools are used to represent concrete situations. The representations look more or less the same as the ones used in pure mathematics, but the conventions used are sometimes very different. In space - time graphs, the dots used do not represent a mathematical point : they represent a place - e.g. the station in a railroad graph - with some area, (otherwise, how could two trains cross each other or overtake each other without crashing). Moreover, two different dots can represent the same place, at different times. In geographic maps, the situation is again different : a dot can represent a whole town ! The differences in representations are seldomely made clear to the students, in Belgium at least. Very often, the conventions are used implicitely by the teacher. The preliminary experiment described below shows that these implicit conventions are not necessarely understood by 10-graders, even if they are considered as high achievers in mathematics, nor by elementary school students teachers.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Philosophy,,Cognitive Dissonance,Concept Teaching,Logic,Epistemology,,
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Algebra
Students: Secondary and student teachers
Macintosh File Name: Vandeputte - Time Graphs
Adjusted File Name: Vandeputte-TimeGraphs.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Does multiplication require insight or is it algorithmically defined, in other words, does the prod uct conception rest on experience or on structure? This problem is introduced on the basis of the repre sen tation of the covered distance as an area. The second part contains an historical outline of the anontological process of the product concep tion, that is, the devel op ment from object to activity. Intuitions of more than two millennia played a double nega tive role in the develop ment of the thinking about multiplica tion. Firstly one could neither correctly imagine the product, nor the proportion, of magnitudes of different kind. Secondly the call for insight held back the comple tion of the multiplica tion of operations and consequently, the product of variab les and trans for mations, let alone the entirely formal multiplica tion of meaningless symbols, which only comply with algebraic equivalences. The historical contra diction: object-directed versus relationship-directed, is reflected in educa tion, which is the central point of the third part. The instruction to multiply a with b yields indeed ab, but not that ab = c. This equality is to be considered as either an object or as an activ ity, consequently it is to be reduced to intuition or to algorithmical handling, according to the stream to which one adheres. The comparison of objects occurs with con figura tions or models that belong to repeated addition, ordered pairs, area and size change s. The equality as an activity amounts to the application of a theory, in short an algorithm that leads from the left to the right side. In the structura listical view the compari son of objects leads to misconceptions. This is easy to demon strate with the construction rule 1 ¥ a = a, which has no figu rative representation.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,Philosophy,Math Concepts,Misconceptions,Concept Formation,Experimental Philosophy,Educational Philosophy,Teaching Methods
General School Subject: Mathematics
Specific School Subject: Arithmetic/algebra
Students: Elementary, Junior High
Macintosh File Name: Verstappen - Mathematics
Adjusted File Name: Verstappen-Mathematics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Two ideas should be taken into consideration when planning a new course in mechanics: the students' preconceptions of the force concept and the analysis of the force concept in classical mechanics. By following this advice we tested engineering students' understanding of the force concept. The main results of the tests are: Students have the impetus conception of motion and they use the dominance principle in interactions. The analysis of the Newtonian force concept revealed two ideas which are contrary to both the students' ideas and the pre-Newtonian theory of motion. In Newtonian physics force is a relational concept which results from the interaction between bodies. Also the Newtonian idea that force is the reason for the changes of momentum is contrary to the students' ideas. Because of these empirical and theoretical facts the new course should be based on the concepts of interaction and momentum. The fourth chapter of this paper presents the implications for teaching.
Keywords: Educational Methods,Concept Formation,Testing,Misconceptions,Constructivism,Concept Teaching,Curriculum Design,Change Strategies,Cognitive Structures
General School Subject: Physics
Specific School Subject: Mechanics
Students: Undergraduate
Macintosh File Name: Viiri - Engineering
Adjusted File Name: Viiri-Engineering.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Student understanding of course content is often characterized by isolated and fragmented knowledge segments. All too often, faculty are confronted by the realization that what they understand to be integrated and coherent knowledge, is memorized by their students as bits and pieces of factual knowledge with limited meaning. Why does this happen? One reason may be that as faculty develop courses, focus is placed upon transmitting disciplinary knowledge at all costs. Learners' needs to establish meaningful links and relationships among concepts (both within and between courses) is rarely considered. In fact, many instructors are themselves "novices" about what constitutes meaningful learning, consequently, university courses are designed so that concepts are disconnected rather than linked.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods, Teacher Education,Cognitive Mapping,Concept Teaching,Learning Processes,Teaching for Conceptual Change,Preservice Teacher Education,
General School Subject: Behavioral Sciences
Specific School Subject: Psychology (Educational)
Students: Education Majors
Macintosh File Name: von Minden - Mind Fields
Adjusted File Name: vonMinden-MindFields.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract:
Keywords: concept formation,research methodology,,concept mapping,meta analysis,effect size,,,
General School Subject:
Specific School Subject:
Students: full time
Macintosh File Name: Vazquez - Meta-analysis
Adjusted File Name: Vazquez-Meta-analysis.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Words are the wagons we use to carry our concepts. If, as Novak (1977, p. 18) argues, "Concepts are what we think with," then the words (concept labels) science students use betoken the degree of conceptual sophistication of their cognitive structures. Researchers in the alternative conceptions movement (ACM) have long recognized the importance of the words that science students choose to use in their spontaneous verbal explanations of natural phenomena, considering the propositions in which these words are embedded to be indicative of students' understanding of science concepts and principles. In fact, the clinical interview is the research method of choice within the ACM principally because it is an effective generator of children's verbal knowledge claims about natural objects or events, and thus can reveal how children think the world works (Novak & Gowin, 1984). As if to underscore the educational significance of children's verbal "scientific" (scientific at least by intention, if not in fact) explanations, Lemke (1990, p. 100) asserts: The job of science education is, at the very teach students how to use language....this means, at least, teaching them to "talk science" in class, on tests, in talking their way through to the solution of a problem (aloud or to themselves), and in writing or speaking [emphasis added] about issues to which science is relevant. Therefore, the more we know about the verbal scientific explanations students are currently able to construct (prior-knowledge-in-action), the better we can modify science curricula and target science instruction.
Keywords: Theories,Concept Formation,Research Methodology,Learning Teory,Cognitive Restructuring,Scientific Concepts,Data Interpretation,Language Processing,Concept Mapping
General School Subject: Science
Specific School Subject: Life Science, Biology
Students: Grades 5,7,11 (public schools)
Macintosh File Name: Wandersee - Lexical
Adjusted File Name: Wandersee-Lexical.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Being able to identify the existing cognitive frameworks of students' knowledge of the human body is important for those of us who teach anatomy and physiology (or other specializations of biology). Students' prior understandings can serve as either anchors for (Cognition and Technology Group, 1992) or impediments against (Bloom, 1992; Duit, 1991; Lemke,1990; Stepans, 1985) meaningful learning of the material we present in our courses. The long-term effectiveness of any particular educational experience, or set of experiences, we might devise depends on our successfully using or challenging the prior understandings of our students. Unfortunately students' current knowledge and understanding of any subject is not immediately apparent, neither to the instructor nor, the students themselves, nor the general public (Lord and Rauscher, 1991).
Keywords: concept formation,testing,research methodology,scientific concepts,concept formation,thinking skills,pretests posttests,informal assessment,qualitative research
General School Subject: biological sciences
Specific School Subject: physiology
Students: college freshmen
Macintosh File Name: Weck - Good Wrong Answers
Adjusted File Name: Weck-GoodWrongAnswers.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: In this research Carribbean students' understanding of the kinetic model of matter was investigated using an instrument of multiple-choice-with-explanation items and true/false items. The sample consisted of 87 Trinidadian and 91 Jamaican senior high school students who had successfully completed the two year physics course published and examined by the Caribbean Examinations Council.The results showed that the students possessed a range of `alternative conceptions' which included the attribution of macroscopic properties to microscopic particles and several conceptions which appeared to have their origin in non-Newtonian conceptions of the relationship between forces and motion. Choices made on the true/false items indicated a considerably weaker grasp of aspects of the model than the answers to related multiple choice items.The implications for teaching are that the non-intuitive nature of aspects of the kinetic model pose difficulties even for more able students in the Caribbean and their teachers need to become more aware of these difficulties. The results also suggest that instruments used to survey students' ideas should utilise items with varied formats.
Keywords: concept formation,Theories,,kinetic molecular theory,misconceptions,constructivism,,,
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject: kinetics ?
Students: high school
Macintosh File Name: Whiteley - Kinetics
Adjusted File Name: Whiteley-Kinetics.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Relationships between structural characteristics of 120 year twelve chemistry students' concept maps about chemical equilibrium and independent measures of achievement are examined in this paper. Fifty students in 1991 and seventy students in 1992 (all without experience of the technique) completed the task using twenty-four concepts. Non-metric multidimensional scaling was used to represent the maps as points in three-dimensional space, based on presence or absence of paired propositional links. Separation between maps reflected hierarchical structure, but also independent measures of student achievement. Canonical correlation analysis of the first data set revealed significant relationships between the MDS coordinates and independent measures of achievement on tests of knowledge and application process. Multiple regression analysis of the second data set against students' percentile rank scores on a national chemistry quiz revealed significant relationships. The results are interpreted as revealing structural differences in conceptual organization about chemical equilibrium among students with different levels of relative expertise in the domain. The significant relationship between map structure and cognitive process scores in chemistry also supports the view that the organization of knowledge influences its accessibility in cognitive tasks.
Keywords:
General School Subject:
Specific School Subject:
Students:
Macintosh File Name: Wilson - Concept Mapping
Adjusted File Name: Wilson-ConceptMapping.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: A considerable consensus has evolved that in coming to understand science, students' learning must be viewed as a process of conceptual change (Driver, 1989; Strike & Posner, 1992; Smith, 1991). At the same time, it is recognized that appropriate teaching strategies cannot be derived in any straight-forward way from a view of learning as conceptual change (Scott, Asoko & Driver, 1991; Thorley & Stofflett, 1993). Furthermore, learning to teach for conceptual change is recognized as difficult (e.g. Erickson & MacKinnon, 1991). Anderson and Smith (1987) note that the knowledge base for such teaching is three-fold, requiring thorough understanding of the subject matter, knowledge of students' views about key conceptions, and knowledge of appropriate conceptual change teaching strategies. This paper describes the growth in the understanding of conceptual change teaching by a fifth grade teacher and a collaborating researcher, as they grappled with the "phenomena" of science teaching and learning in two of the teacher's classes. The teacher, an experienced specialist in science, had considerable curricular freedom and was able to devote about six weeks of instructional time to the topic of current electricity with the two classes. The researcher, a former physics teacher with a comprehensive knowledge of the literature on students' conceptions and conceptual change teaching, also spent considerable time in the classes and in interviewing students.
Keywords: teacher education,concept formation,Educational methods,inservice teacher education,learning processes,scientific concepts,teaching methods,,
General School Subject: physics
Specific School Subject:
Students: elementary / middle school
Macintosh File Name: Woods - Conceptual Change
Adjusted File Name: Woods-ConceptualChange.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Cells are considered to be the units of life. Almost all living creatures are made up of cells. For this reason, the concept of cell is fundamental in learning biology. In Mexico, children learn about cells for the first time in fourth grade of grammar school. The concept is presented again the following two grades of grammar school, once again in junior highschool and once again in senior highschool. Every time,the information is reviewed and enlarged. The Science Museum of the National Autonomous University of Mexico is planning an exhibit on the subject, entitled :"Journey to the Center of the Cell". All the exhibits in the Museum are based on a previous analysis, a front-end evaluation. We explore the way potencial visitors understand the main concepts to be presented, so we can use the appropiate level of explanations, and design a coherent structure for the information to be presented. For this particular exhibit we have analysed the way some junior highschool students understand the concept of cell by means of an informal questionnaire.
Keywords: Concept Formation,Educational Methods,,Misconceptions,Cognitive Restructuring,Empowering Students,Cognitive Process,Concept Teaching,Concept Formation
General School Subject: Biological Sciences
Specific School Subject: Biology
Students: Junior High
Macintosh File Name: Zamora - Cells
Adjusted File Name: Zamora-Cells.dp.sit.hqx
Abstract: Many researchers have suggested that statistical/hypotheses testing type studies are not satisfactory when a study is aimed at the fine-grained analysis of learning successes and difficulties of students. There is often a gap between what the reseacher puts forward as a hypothesis about learning processes and the hypothesis that may emerge from research data. For one, there are the obvious differences between teacher and student worlds even for very sensitive and caring teachers: students simply see situations so differently from us.
Keywords: Research Methodology,Concept Formation,,Qualitative Research,Learning Processes,Misconceptions,,,
General School Subject: Physical Science
Specific School Subject: Physics
Students: Junior High
Macintosh File Name: Zietsman - Tutoring Experiments
Adjusted File Name: Zietsman-TutoringExperiments.sit.hqx
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