Volume 98 (5), May 1998

Table of Contents

Abstracts

Table of Contents

Abstracts

• A Case Study Analysis of the Development of Knowledge Schema, Ideational Networks, and Higher Cognitive Operations Among High School Students Who Studied Ecology

Paul J. Bischoff, Georgia Southwestern State University
O. R. Anderson, Columbia University


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        Thirteen randomly selected 9th- and 10th-grade students who studied an ecology unit were interviewed, and the tape-recorded narrative data were analyzed for changes in knlowledge schema, represented by ideational networks and the development of higher cognitive operations. Flow maps and a checklist of cognitive information processing categories were used as analytical tools. Two end-member respondents (lowest and highest performing students) were selected for an in-depth analysis, and their performance was compared to the mean of the 13 randomly selected students. The high-performing individual evidenced greater gains in use of higher order cognitive categories than the lowest end member, and both end members spanned the range of performance of respondents in the subsample. the data support current theory that the amount and quality of prior knowledge substantially influence gains in new knowledge and are closely linked to a capacity to apply higher order cognitive thought processes in constructing abstract knowledge.

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• Beating the System: Course Structure and Student Strategies in a Traditional Introductory Undergraduate Physics Course for Nonmajors

Valerie L. Dickinson, Washington State University
Lawrence B. Flick, Oregon State University


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        The purpose of this study was to describe relationships among instructor and student goals, course design, and student strategies for learning physics in a traditional introductory undergraduate physics course for nonmajors. the procedures included 16 hours of nonparticipant observation, during which detailed field notes and photographs were taken and documents were collected. Audiotaped open-ended interviews were given to instructors and students, and all students participated in a limited survey. The data were analyzed using qualitative methods of the Chicago School. Results indicated that both differing goals of students and instructors and the structure of the course inhibited the understanding of physics and were conducive to students engaging in unexpected behaviors designed to help them successfully pass the course. The consequences of the structure of the course and subsequent student behaviors inhibited their understanding and appreciation of physics and deterred them from enrolling in further science courses. The paper includes implications for teaching introductory college physics.

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• Learning to Make Sense of Division of Fractions: One K-8 Preservice Teacher's Perspective

Cheryl A. Jubinski, Illinois State University
Thomas Fox, Ball State University
Rebecca Thomason


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Current reform documents in mathematics education recommend that teachers help students develop both conceptual and procedural understanding. However, teachers often do not possess the in-depth mathematical reasoning necessary to accomplish this goal. The purpose of this article is to provide one way in which preservice teachers can come to better understand the mathematics they will teach.

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• An Ethnoscience Approach to Curriculum Issues for American Indian Students

David M. Davison and Kenneth W. Miller
Montana State University-Billings


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        This paper describes a course offered to teachers of American Indian students, which focused on the development of culturally relevant activities as part of the science and mathematics curricula. In response to the concern that American Indian students do not find meaning in the curriculum, these activities were embedded in a holistic approach to the curriculum, and the informal science and mathematics of the culture were linked with the traditional school science and mathematics. Informal results suggest that the development of these connections will help American Indian students make sense of what they are learning, both in the context of the culture and in the context of school science and mathematics.

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