Conceptual understanding of chemistry is an important issue in chemistry education. Examination questions with word answers are one way of reinforcing and testing conceptual knowledge and should be included in chemistry courses. Students involved in this study felt they did better on numerical questions and poorer on conceptual questions than they…

Shares details about two prewriting strategies (brainstorming and synthesizing information), and discusses some practical issues related to the use of computer-based concept mapping in the classroom. (SR)

Presents an experimental study conducted at the University of Twente (Netherlands) that investigated the learning effectiveness of concept mapping for computer-supported collaborative problem solving. Highlights include group interaction; shared cognition; knowledge acquisition; learning effectiveness; retention; creativity; and distributed…

Examines a selection of innovative search tools that attempt to solve specific problems in searching. Topics include search difficulties, including controlled vocabularies and keyword searching; retrieval issues, including relevancy ranking; document discrimination problems; creating search tools for specific audiences; and interface design,…

States that in order to gain students' attention, social studies teachers should use more active teaching strategies. Describes six hooking strategies that immediately draw students in: (1) inquiry; (2) media hook; (3) sentence synthesis; (4) what they know, what they want to know, what they learned (K-W-L); (5) roundtable; and (6) concept…

Discusses group learning on the Internet and problems of unequal participation and describes the development of a Web-based learning system called NetShare (Networked Sharing Construction Environment) that uses a cooperative-competitive learning strategy to facilitate participants' equal contributions. Reports preliminary results of a study with…

Hierarchical concept maps can be used to preview or review a topic, serve as a means of formal or informal assessment, promote classroom discourse, and provide a visual representation of mathematical connections. (MKR)

Investigates the effectiveness of inserted questions and concept mapping for enhancing academic performance. The study sample was composed of 141 nursing students enrolled in a 20-week distance education course. Subjects who completed concept mapping exercises outperformed those using inserted questions or a combination of the two instructional…

A control group of 40 eighth graders completed a unit on elements and compounds. An experimental group of 42 completed concept maps on the same topic. Results of a one-tailed T test demonstrated the usefulness of concept maps as advance organizers. (KR)

This article argues that more theoretically based research is needed on the academic expectations of gifted adolescents regarding summer enrichment programs. Concept mapping is suggested as an alternative methodological approach to such research and one such map is presented, which was developed by mapping expectations of 74 seventh and eighth…

Comments on preceding articles include "Studies of the Hexagonal Model" (Holland, Gottfredson); "Structure of Occupations" (Dawis); "Is Holland's Theory Worthy of So Much Attention?" (Schwartz); "Does Enough Evidence Exist to Modify Holland's Theory?" (Hansen); "Research and Application Using Holland's…

Describes the use of computer-generated concept maps using a new genre of graphics programs that allows students to create, alter and expand maps as they acquire more subject matter knowledge. Four examples of increasingly complex concept maps developed by a high school student studying cellular biology are discussed and illustrated. (Contains 19…

Discussed is the relationship of concept-mapping by students to the meaningful learning of genetics and ecological concepts. The implications of these results for teacher education in biology are addressed. (KR)

Describes the use of concept mapping and Vee diagramming in helping students learn how to learn. (PR)

Use of concept mapping as an assessment tool allows links to be made between concepts, and shows both scientifically correct propositions and misconceptions. Annotated drawings offer an alternative form of expression to children who may hold ideas but find it difficult to express them in words or to recognize links between them. (PVD)