This research explores the moment-by-moment understanding students exhibit in the learning of a non-physical science domain--the human circulatory system. The goal was to understand how students learn by capturing the nature of their initial mental models (naive conceptions), and by seeing how new information gets assimilated into their mental…

Examined differences in spontaneous self-regulation on a concept identification task between 23 average and 22 gifted eighth-grade students. Results suggest that self-regulation is a complex composite of cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational factors that underlie sustained efforts to achieve high performance outcomes. (MM)

Investigates the effects of a dynamic instructional environment and visualization on eighth-grade students' construction of reflection and rotation concepts. Also studies the effects of the environment on students' two- and three-dimensional visualization. (Author/CCM)

This study investigated whether the van Hiele model accurately describes the geometric thinking of gifted students in the 6th through 8th grades prior to a formal course in geometry and made comparisons with what has been found with other populations. The results from 120 students who completed a 25-item multiple choice paper-and-pencil test,…

In this study, the first three of a panel-judged list of important biology concepts were utilized to determine their mastery level in 75 eighth-graders. The instrument, designed to measure the level of mastery, was based on Frayer's model measuring total, classificatory, and formal concept attainment according to Klausmeier. It was found that the…

The purpose of this study was to explore four classes of junior high school students' learning motivation toward a physical science course in central Taiwan. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied in the study. Students' physical science learning motivation questionnaire (SPSLMQ), modified from multiple dimensions of a motivation…

Naturalistic data-collecting strategies (interviews with 20 eighth graders) were used to identify and characterize students' understandings about the concept of burning. The analysis showed that students' understandings were fragmented, inconsistent, and at variance with scientific knowledge. (Author)

A major goal of instruction is for students to develop competence with numbers. This study attempts to determine the effect of instructional materials that develop number concepts and connect these concepts to mental computation procedures. The study used 16 classes of eighth-grade students and a pretest-posttest design with two treatment groups.…

A study examined: (1) the feasibility of using concept maps as a measure of content achievement; and (2) whether these measures were sensitive to knowledge learned after reading expository text. Subjects, 131 eighth-grade students, were taught a mapping technique which required them to analyze ideas into propositions and then arrange them into…

Reports on a study designed to determine whether the historical approach to chemistry teaching will promote the conceptual problem-solving ability of eighth-grade students and identify whether high or low achievers profit more from this teaching approach. (DDR)

This paper is concerned with understanding how a scaffolding process is utilized in the natural setting of a middle-school mathematics class. Wood, Bruner, & Ross (1976) characterize scaffolding as a learning process of a novice which is assisted and dominated by the adult. Rogoff and Gardner (1984) also point out that "to make messages…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an analogy activity designed to overcome junior high school students' misconceptions about the microscopic views of phase change. Eighth grade students (N=80) were randomly assigned to either a control group receiving traditional teaching, or an experimental group participating in the…

This study investigates how students participating in the same curriculum construct understanding in elementary thermodynamics during a semester-long eighth-grade physical science class. Two questions were addressed: (1) How does the learners' understanding change during the study of elementary thermodynamics? and (2) What role do students'…

This report explains an evaluative study of the conceptual and affective development of students associated with the Floating Lab Program, an experiential field project sponsored by the University of New Hampshire and the Maine Sea Grant Program. The field program involved an opportunity for students to have hands-on experiences aboard a 65-foot…

Reports misconceptions identified in students with respect to the topic of parallel lines and the teaching strategies found to be useful in challenging those misconceptions. (11 references) (MDH)