This qualitative study aimed to examine: (1) the manner in which kindergarten children and first graders make sense of the term "area" regarding optimization problems; (2) how this manner is manifested in their decision-making and "STEAM" (science, technology, engineering, art and math) skills; and (3) how kindergarten children…

Pictorial representations are often used to help children understand the situation described in a given number-sentence scheme. These static pictorial problems essentially attempt to depict a dynamic situation (e.g., one bird flies away while there are three birds still sitting on the fence). Previous research suggested that such pictorial…

There is a lack of research on students' conceptions of giftedness and intelligence, despite recognition of their influence on real-life factors such as achievement and motivation. This paper presents a cross-sectional mixed methods study that investigated Finnish students' (age 6-16 years; N = 1282) implicit conceptions of giftedness and…

All students should have access to learning experiences that help them make sense of important mathematical concepts. This study highlights teacher actions for consolidating student learning during teacher-lead discussion in the early years. We report on a case study of a Year 1 teacher involving a lesson observation. Highlights of the lesson…

Picture books have the potential to engage students in multimodal ways of learning in early education setting. This pilot study aims to investigate the efficacy of using picture books specifically written to convey increasingly complex ecosystem concepts and their influence on introducing ecoliteracy to first-grade students. Under the central…

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…

This book examines learning science from multiple perspectives--especially a child's. The whimsical character of Mary Froggins guides readers through the steps of igniting students' natural sense of wonder, incorporating brain research, integrating science concepts with other subjects, and applying science to daily life. The authors demonstrate…

Results support the hypothesis that, with 6-year old children, the production of analytic responses on the Conceptual Style Test is a function of the instructions used. (Author/CB)

From a factor analysis of 33 variables on 83 first-grade children an animism factor, involving children's conceptions of life, was identified. Animism was found to be relatively independent of operational thought, Piagetian-type problem solving, and the ability to give causal explanations of physical phenomena. (Author)

These results support Piaget's position that preoperational children respond to the perceptual lack of equality but not to the lack of conceptual equivalence in class-inclusion problems. (Authors)

Results confirm the hypothesis that identity and equivalence conservation require different mental processes. (Authors/MB)

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY WAS TO EXPLORE THE PIAGET CONCEPT OF CONSERVATION WITH REGARD TO THE CHILD'S CONCEPT OF THE PROPERTY OF LIQUIDS. AN INVESTIGATOR-CONSTRUCTED CONSERVATION INVENTORY WAS GIVEN TO 45 KINDERGARTEN AND FIRST GRADE PUPILS SELECTED FROM THE PRAIRIE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, URBANA, ILLINOIS, TO PROVIDE AN INDEX OF THE CHILD'S…

Purpose of the study is to test Piaget's hypothesis of a parallel relationship between moral concepts and logical structures in human development. (Author)

Discusses a class on subtraction or difference-finding, problems such as "There are eight white flowers and five red flowers, how many more white flowers are there than red flowers?" used in the teaching of Japanese first grade children. Describes three instances of introductory teaching of "difference-finding" problems in the…

Analyses revealed consistent support for the hypothesis that number conservation is developmentally prior to liquid quantity conservation. (Authors)