25 Feb 2008 11:30 AM in PRB 4138 Title: Building knowledge without building an underlying structure Mel S. Sabella, Chicago State University, Department of Chemistry and Physics Abstract: Many research-based instructional materials aid students in building an understanding of challenging physics concepts. At Chicago State University, we have implemented a learning environment that accomplishes this goal through the use of a diverse set of instructional tools. This project is a result of collaborations between CSU, New Mexico State University, California State University - Fullerton, Buffalo State University, the Ohio State University, and the College of DuPage. Although we have observed conceptual learning gains as a result of this project, we have evidence that the formal physics knowledge students are building in our classes tends to be isolated and it is often very challenging for our students to activate this formal knowledge. In this talk we present evidence that we are building a deep functional understanding of physics concepts- but, it is unclear as to whether we are building the underlying structure and metacognitive skills that help students connect different types of knowledge and perform well on different course tasks. The evidence from the research will motivate a discussion about our instructional reform efforts and how they have evolved to address the specific issues involved in building an underlying structure for student knowledge. *with support from National Science Foundation CCLI grants, #0410068, #0632563, #0618128