Discusses two theories of cognitive development, Ausubel's theory of verbal learning and Piaget's development theory. Illustrates that both concept mapping and the learning cycle are rooted in these two theories. (DDR)

Focuses on students' ability to explain their ideas in writing who were able to demonstrate a high level of scientific concept understanding during discussion. Indicates that scaffolding the writing process both at the sentence level and the text level facilitates an improvement in the expression of scientific knowledge. (Contains 14 references.)…

Describes two teaching tools, case-based learning and concept mapping and how they support cross-disciplinary, multidisciplinary , and interdisciplinary learning as they promote the integration of sex- and gender-based science into the medical curriculum. Outlines the process of case development at the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hahnemann…

A word association experiment examined conceptual representation in bilingual memory. Dutch-English bilinguals associated twice to nouns and verbs that varied on concreteness and cognate status. Findings suggest that conceptual representation in bilingual memory depends on word-type and grammatical class: concrete translations, cognates, and noun…

Reports results of a collaborative study of mathematics instruction in 1st and 5th grade students in Korea. Lessons consisted of sequences of highly organized, systematic patterns of instruction dominated by teacher questions that included higher level procedural and conceptual questions. Observations have implications for educators interested in…

Investigates the effects of web-based instructional materials on students' understanding of chemical concepts. Uses interviews with students, concept mapping, and a free-response survey for the study. (YDS)

It is well established in the literature that college students have poor eating habits and that many barriers exist to achieving optimal nutrition for this busy population. Little is known about students' perceptions of this problem or suggestions for improving their dietary habits. Similarly, college health professionals need innovative…

Generic skills development is increasingly being embedded into UK higher education curricula to improve the employability and lifelong learning skills of graduates. At the same time universities are being required to benchmark their curricular outcomes against national and employer standards. This paper presents and discusses the results of a…

This article reports the results of an investigation of the convergent criterion-related validity of two computer-based tools for scoring concept maps and essays as part of the ongoing formative evaluation of these tools. In pairs, participants researched a science topic online and created a concept map of the topic. Later, participants…

Four pairs of connectionist simulations are presented in which quasi-regular mappings are computed using localist and distributed representations. In each simulation, a control parameter termed input gain was modulated over the only level of representation that mapped inputs to outputs. Input gain caused both localist and distributed models to…

Science content area texts are difficult for most middle school students, particularly whose reading skills are below grade level. This article describes an innovative approach to integrating the teaching of middle school science content and reading skills to increase levels of student success with content area textbooks. For reading instruction,…

Using WebQuests for inquiry-based learning represents a higher-order use of technology requiring students to exercise information seeking, analyzing, and synthesizing strategies. This research was designed to obtain a better understanding of how to enhance the pedagogical effectiveness of WebQuests and of how students interact with the various…

A Mind Map is an outline in which the major categories radiate from a central image and lesser categories are portrayed as branches of larger branches. The author describes an in-class exercise in which small groups of students each create a Mind Map for a specific topic. This exercise is another example of an active and collaborative learning…

Examined the effectiveness of concept mapping on the science achievement of African American middle grades science students distributed into eight different classes by ability level. Results of this quasi, non-randomized, control-treatment group, pretest-posttest study found no significant overall effects of treatment on science achievement. There…

This study is intended to develop an assessment instrument to investigate students' understandings about internal transport in plants and human circulatory system. A refined process of a two-tier diagnostic test was used to develop the instrument. Finally, three versions of the Internal Transport in Plants and the Human Circulatory System test…