Research from a survey of students in higher education institutions in the Western Cape has demonstrated that despite the difficulties being experienced in terms of access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in higher education, students report that they do indeed use computers for their learning. In this paper we explore the…

What are the four different types of questions of concern in an evaluation study and how can concept questions be recognized and answered? These issues are addressed in this paper, in the framework of a compensatory education program evaluation. The discussion includes (1) the identification of concept questions and how they are different from…

Analyzes verbal and figural student concept schemes for environmental issues through aspects of differentiation (number of categories employed), discrimination (range of phenomena involved), and integration (efficiency of organizing method). Results indicate students (N=28) use discrimination most and integration least and constructed…

This paper introduces the concept of representational guidance for collaborative learning discourse and summarizes the results of two studies: a laboratory study investigating differences in discourse process and a classroom study investigating differences in products of the investigations. The laboratory study compared three representational…

This study was conducted to compare effects of concept mapping and conceptual change texts instruction over traditional instruction on 10th grade students' understanding of acid and base concepts. 110 students from 6 classes of a chemistry course taught by the same teacher were enrolled in the study. There were four experimental group classes and…

The use of mind mapping (MM), a visual tool developed by T. Buzan (1983; 1996) to improve note-taking, foster creativity, organize thinking, and develop ideas and concepts, was studied in a sixth-grade classroom with 16 students as an instructional and learning tool. In MM, a central focus or graphic representation of the problem is placed in the…

The major focus of this study is to trace the cognitive development of students throughout a mathematics course and to seek the qualitative differences between those of different levels of achievement. The aspect of the project described here concerns the use of concept maps constructed by the students at intervals during the course. From these…

Illustrates how concept mapping can benefit qualitative research to clarify relationships between and among various elements through nonstructured interviews. The research value of examining thoughts through visual representations is demonstrated through the context of a qualitative study of relationships between mathematics beliefs and practice…

Reports the findings of an interpretive case study of the knowledge transformations of three Year 7 students who had participated in a class visit to a science museum and associated post-visit activities. Discusses theoretical and practical implications of these findings for teachers and staff of museums and similar institutions. (Author/KHR)

Describes using clusters of high-quality literature to support the teaching of key geometry and measurement ideas. (Contains 29 references.) (YDS)

Identifies some of the major factors underlying common problems that students have in acquiring an understanding of chemistry concepts. Suggests and discusses the use of concept maps as an aid in ensuring that meaningful learning rather than rote learning has occurred among students. Contains 32 references. (ZWH)

Describes an online dictionary environment for children called DICTOFUN where words are accessed via their meaning as well as by alphabetical entry. Highlights include the use of HyperCard; concept hierarchies; comparisons with related systems; and experiments with 7-, 8-, and 14-year olds. (Contains 12 references.) (LRW)

The 51 occupations pursued by 3,612 college graduates were located throughout Holland's hexagon by weighting scores from the Unisex Edition of the ACT Interest Inventory. A Hexagon Congruence Index developed to measure person-occupation congruence can be used with any combination of Holland types. (SK)

Discussion of the use of citation analysis and bibliometrics to study the organization of a subject literature focuses on an experiment in journal cocitation mapping in the field of economics. Results are compared with an earlier journal network study of economics journal literature, and future research is suggested. (16 references) (LRW)

Discusses the role of visualization of information in learning. Theorizes that the comprehension of visualizations is a process of structure mapping between a visuo-spatial configuration and a mental model. Tests the model and finds differences in the use of text and picture information to answer different kinds of text questions. (DSK)