The purpose of this article is to present and discuss two recommended sequences of learning the areas of polygons, starting from the area of a rectangle. Exploring the algebraic derivations of the two sequences reveals that both are valid teaching progressions for introducing the area formula for various polygons. Further, it is suggested that…

Instruction often starts with an explanation of a concept or principle before students are presented with problems to be solved. Recent research indicates that reversing this widely used tell-and-practice sequence (T&P) so that exploratory problem-solving precedes the instructional explanation (i.e., PS-I) might be more beneficial. We aimed to…

This article examines the process of shifting to a "Physics First" sequence in science course offerings in three school districts in the United States. This curricular sequence reverses the more common U.S. high school sequence of biology/chemistry/physics, and has gained substantial support in the physics education community over the…

The paper presents and analyses a sequence of events that preceded an insight solution to a challenging problem in the context of numerical sequences. A three­week long solution process by a pair of ninth­-grade students is analysed by means of the theory of shifts of attention. The goal for this article is to reveal the potential of this theory…

Paper presented at the California Educational Research Association Annual Meeting (Berkeley, California, March 1968).

Using the Component Display Theory as an analyzing tool, this study compared the effects of expository and discovery methods of instruction on two learning outcomes, application and transfer. One hundred ninth grade students in each of four earth science classes were randomly assigned to five groups--four experimental groups designed to test four…

Developed to assist teachers of communication arts in the high school PREP (Preparation for Raising Educational Performance) summer classes, the 30 75-minute lessons in this first of two handbooks are designed to help ninth graders operating with below grade level reading skills (around the 5th-7th grade level) improve their reading comprehension.…

Developed to assist teachers of communication arts in the high school PREP (Preparation for Raising Education Performance) summer classes, the 30 75-minute lessons in this second of two handbooks are designed to help ninth graders operating with below grade level reading skills (around the 3rd-5th grade level) improve their reading comprehension.…

This research tests the implicit assumption that cognitive development is independent of ethnic background. The testing instrument used was a newly designed spatial reasoning test intended to reflect the sequence of acquisition of skills requisite to map reading and drawing. A sample of 270 black, Chinese, and white subjects (90 each at the 5th,…

Results of this study suggest that diagrams provide different types of information for ninth-grade students (N=273) and that learners process each type differently. Flow diagrams running across a page from either left to right or right to left, or with or without drawings of dinosaurs, were used. (JN)