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The influence of content organization on student's cognitive structure in thermodynamics
Author(s) -
Moreira Marco A.,
Santos Carlos A.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of research in science teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.067
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1098-2736
pISSN - 0022-4308
DOI - 10.1002/tea.3660180607
Subject(s) - cognition , mathematics education , subject matter , content (measure theory) , psychology , conceptual change , subject (documents) , concept learning , cognitive science , chemistry , pedagogy , computer science , mathematics , mathematical analysis , neuroscience , library science , curriculum
Abstract Two different approaches to the content of thermodynamics were used in an introductory college physics course: one was the traditional organization found in most textbooks on the subject, the other was based on the learning theory of David Ausubel. The influence of these different content organizations on the student's cognitive structure was investigated using a word association test which was analysed through hierarchical clustering analysis. Research findings suggest that the approach based on Ausubel's theory influences the student's cognitive structure in such a way that their conceptual hierarchies are more coherent with the basic laws and the conceptual structure of the subject matter.