Current reform in mathematics and science education advocates the integration of science and mathematics teaching and learning as a means of improving achievement and attitudes within both disciplines. This bibliography is a collaborative effort involving the ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education; the National…

This report considers how the mathematical knowledge children develop on their own outside of formal school instruction can be used to increase the distribution and level of mathematical knowledge attained by students in grades K-3. Included are preliminary results of an investigation of the counting and calculating abilities brought to…

The social sciences may be viewed as policy sciences and, as such, can make significant contributions to both public policy and the social studies curriculum. Political science has made contributions in legislative reform, centralized budgeting, regulation of lobbying, and improvement of election administration. Sociology has helped make…

Reviews theoretical developments in science education and integrates them into a humanistic constructivist model of science learning. Applies this model to the new English national science curriculum. Explains the changing focus in science curriculum and pedagogy. Discusses theories of science learning in relation to the Education Reform Act…

Educational reformers have been concerned about an apparent lack of depth in most social studies curricula with the traditional pressure to "cover" vast amounts of content leading to limited student retention of knowledge. Observational studies have analyzed numerous high school social studies classrooms in which teacher-led…

This paper describes a curriculum unit developed in the domain of geometrical optics which has been incorporated into an activity-based physics course for prospective elementary teachers. The instructional goal was to help students develop a set of powerful ideas that could be applied both verbally and diagrammatically to account for optical…

Reports on one rigorous evaluation and search for desired components of a science methods course at a large state university. Student evaluations of assignments are used to rate them for effectiveness. Provides a model for other instructors interested in course evaluation. (LZ)

Selects and annotates 25 documents and articles on geography education from the ERIC database. Provides information about accessing and ordering materials. Items include surveys of geographic knowledge, suggested classroom activities, and discussion of geography's place in the social studies curriculum. (CH)

This practicum was designed to incorporate critical thinking skills instruction and practice into a fourth-grade curriculum to increase fourth-grade students' ability to recognize and apply critical thinking strategies to appropriate situations. This program concentrated on the increasing of six critical thinking skills: classification, sequence…

Describes an exploratory investigation of how children reacted to problems with missing, surplus or contradictory data. It was found that the majority of children gave unsatisfactory answers to such problems. (PK)

Described is a nonmajor mathematics course taught using computers and lab experiments. Included are the challenge, solution, description of the first class, problems, successes, the syllabus, student comments, and the conclusion. (KR)

Reports on a study of memorable elementary school, social studies activities experienced by college students. Finds that the responses reflected the influence of the expanding communities curriculum when viewed across grade levels. Argues that experiential and higher order thinking activities were remembered most favorably. (CFR)

The Triple Representation Model of problem solving is presented. The use of microcomputers in this problem-solving environment is discussed, and examples are provided. The integration of this method into the mathematics curriculum is described. (CW)

Contends that criticism of progressive pedagogical methods may be creating an ideologically neutral orthodoxy of primary school practice in Great Britain. Expresses caution about this development by defending principles underlying progressive education. Argues for the development of child-centered teaching methods within the National Curriculum.…

Reports on an evaluative study of a secondary level civics curriculum in the Netherlands. Finds a discrepancy between the curriculum plans of the developers and the classroom implementation of the curriculum. Recommends an implementation-oriented development strategy with emphasis on early and intensive formative evaluation. (CFR)