This study aimed to examine the effect of four types of assessment on overall student success in an online college-level climate change course. Quizzes, midterms, lab assignments, and a capstone project as well as knowledge check questions were used to assess different aspects of student learning, consistent with Bloom's taxonomy hierarchy.…

When it comes to research design, the literature largely focuses on prescriptions for strengthening causal inference--identifying confounders, selecting appropriately comparable cases, generating testable hypotheses, etc. This approach to research design features the logic of inquiry heavily, but overlooks the logic of discovery. The logic of…

The seasons are often modeled for students using two spherical objects, one representing the Sun and one representing the Earth. Solely using this model, however, neglects a critical aspect of learning--how students actually see the world. This lesson challenges students to explore seasonal variations as they create and analyze sunrise/sunset…

Radical constructivists advocate discovery-based pedagogical regimes that enable students to incrementally and continuously adapt their cognitive structures to the instrumented cultural environment. Some sociocultural theorists, however, maintain that learning implies discontinuity in conceptual development, because novices must appropriate expert…

Scientists often use more than the results of experiment to arrive at a result; they use anticipation and analogy to arrive at the results that fit their theories, and sometimes they correct results in the light of analogy. They also need to be clear about the difference between accuracy and precision. They do all this using not only theories, but…

A summary of current theoretical work in the area of concept formation is presented with emphasis on the presentation of thinking in theory. Examination of the logic relating thinking to behavior leads to criticism of the tendency to subordinate "behavior" to underlying processes. The difficulties inherent in analyses of this type are that…

A laboratory study was performed with four levels of discovery and two levels on an overlearning factor. An improved experimental paradigm was chosen so as to avoid a number of confusions which have obscured previous research. An operational definition was developed for discovery and guided discovery and discovery teaching, and inquiry learning.…

The authors briefly review some of the empirical studies which have compared discovery learning with expository learning. Essentially, their study replicates an earlier one in which these learning strategies were compared on two dimensions: (1) immediate acquisition; and (2) retention of concepts. Subjects were 228 seventh graders who had not…

Describes a student teacher project in which each student was assigned the task of designing, constructing, and trying out an instructional carrel to teach some specific science concept and/or process to children in grades K-6. Both the student teachers and their pupils appeared to find the learning experience a worthwhile one. (LC)

Emphasizes the importance of spontaneous play for growth in cognition and social values. The author specifically discusses finger painting, water, blocks and dramatic play. (AJ)

The purpose of this article is to construct Piaget's contributions to education, focusing on cognitive aspects. Explored are the goals of education: independent inquiry and acquisition of a body of information, passivity in traditional education, and the psychogenetic view of knowledge formation. (SK)

Encourages adult educators to use a creative approach to solving problems and making decisions, defining creative thinking as a complex process of discovery. States that adult educators should find ways to change how they look at problems and offers some suggestions. (MF)

Article describes a valuable new way for children to use sand in relation to other natural materials in a different context and scale than the usual sandbox play. (Author/RK)