Suggesting that learning be considered as a generative process, attempts to: (1) place generative learning ideas in the context of other viewpoints of learning; (2) explicate key postulates of the generative learning model; and (3) examine implications of these theoretical ideas for teaching, learning, curriculum development, and research. (JN)

Discusses methodologies used to observe children at work in science classrooms and to handle data collected from such observations. Audience, observational mechanisms, and research strategies are considered in separate sections. Methodologies as applied to the Learning in Science Project are also considered. (JN)