Visual representations play an important role in science teaching. The way in which visual representations may help children to acquire scientific concepts is a crucial test in the debate between constructivist and socio-cultural oriented researchers. In this paper, the question is addressed as a problem of how to contextualize conceptions and…

Discusses problems in teaching and learning economics. Describes students' perceptions of cost as a quality inherent in the product or the result of supply and demand in spite of training they may have received in economics. Urges teachers to help students develop economic understanding so that the students can use what they have been taught. (DK)