We discuss the eight papers in this issue of "Cultural Studies of Science Education" focusing on the debate over conceptual change in science education and explore the issues that have emerged for us as we consider how conceptual change research relates to our practice as science educators. In presenting our interpretations of this research, we…

A teacher's observations on the marked contrast between the development and behavior of elementary school children in Tennessee's Cumberland plateau and their counterparts in New York City's Greenwich Village vividly demonstrate the regional basis that still accounts for a variety of cultural variations. And yet, place of upbringing is just one of…

"A new order of the ages (is born)," is the meaning of the Latin phrase "novus ardo seclorum" which can be found on the back of a U.S. dollar bill. U.S. citizens are concerned with the passage of time, the near future, acting in a timely manner, and accomplishing tasks efficiently. These traits have become part of the national character.…

Considers conceptual and theoretical issues involved in an action-oriented developmental perspective, arguing that actions are interpretation constructs. Multiple roots of active theory in psychology are summarized, and some ways that an action orientation might contribute to psychological thinking about aging and developments are discussed.(RH)

Addresses issues concerned with the investigation of creativity across various human cultures, including data collection from a limited cultural base, a three-level approach to cross-cultural studies of creativity, identification of basic cultural paradigms characteristic of a specific culture, and barriers to mature cross-cultural relativism. (DB)

The purpose of this article for this special issue is to explore the relevance of this collection to educators and researchers who do not identify with mathematics. A secondary focus is to see whether anything in the author's very different knowledge of learning could usefully feedback into the mathematics education field. Behind these tasks lie…

Providing a framework for a symposium exploring the influence of physical attractiveness on the socialization process, this paper (1) offers a working definition of physical attractiveness, (2) reviews stereotypes associated with attractiveness, and (3) discusses a social network perspective on the influence of attractiveness. Physical…

This paper considers fundamental questions raised in the current debate about Afrocentric research methods in the social sciences. The discussion covers feminist, critical theory, radical humanist, radical structuralist, ethnographic, naturalistic inquiry, constructivism, and phenomenological inquiry approaches to research. The working definition…

This discussion is a response to the Saarni commentary (Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, October 1987) on the Miller and Sperry report (Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, January 1987) on the socialization of anger and aggression. (PCB)

In considering an ethnographic perspective on creativity research, this article briefly discusses and reviews sample studies on (1) the cultural context of creativity, (2) creativity and cultural transmission and transformation, and (3) creativity in the context of cultural anthropology. (DB)

The effects of compensatory education programs in the United States during the past 20 years are discussed. The author believes the programs have had the least impact on scholastic achievement and intelligence quotient (IQ). The theoretical view of human intelligence and prevailing views of psychologists and educators of the 1960's regarding the…

With reference to Chinese language and its unique orthography, evidence for language-related differences in manners of information processing is reviewed. These differences include visual form perception, manipulation of numbers, and memory versus manipulation and elaboration of verbal information. (Author/RH)

Effects of qualitative researchers' competing self-identities on decision making in the research process are addressed and illustrated with examples from the author's research with African American/Latino, low- to middle-income families of children with disabilities. (Author/DB)

There are two perspectives from which the academic performance of children from high or low socioeconomic backgrounds can be viewed. The non-environmental perspective specifies a direct relationship between performance and innate ability; environmental deficits may be correlated with poor performances but perhaps are not causally related. The…

Nisan responds to Turiel, Nucci, and Smetana's (1988) critique by stating that it merely serves to emphasize the difficulty involved in distinguishing between the moral and the conventional without reference to the cultural meaning of the act. (PCB)