Video games have become a popular medium in our society, and recent scholarship suggests that games can support substantial learning. This study stems from a project in which we created a video game enabling students to use biotechnology to solve a societal problem. As students engaged in the game, they necessarily interacted with the underlying…

Data collected in the 1976-1977 National Assessment of Educational Progress survey of 17-year-olds was used to reanalyze the hypothesis that there are affective determinants of science achievement. Results show that motivation, anxiety, student choice, and teacher support account for most of the correlation between affective determinants and…

Results from studies dealing with students' views toward science teachers/classes, usefulness of science study, and what it is like to be a scientist are reviewed and analyzed. Studies include National Assessment of Educational Progress data and data from an Iowa follow-up study and a study of a large school district. (JN)

Discusses the gender differences revealed on the science content items of the National Assessment of Educational Progress Science Assessment. Examines explanations for the differences, including differential prior instruction, differential response to uncertainty, differential response to figurally presented items, and different attitudes toward…

Describes a secondary analysis of a national assessment of educational progress in science which was conducted in 1981-1982 with students of age nine. Suggests that elementary school students' achievement and attitude are influenced jointly by a number of factors rather than by one or two dominant ones. (TW)