The framework developed for the PISA 2006 science survey starts from everyday contexts in which citizens encounter scientific issues and knowledge claims. Recent curriculum changes in England, making possible the introduction of courses for 15- to 16-year olds with an explicit "scientific literacy" emphasis, are based on a very similar…

This study presents a description and analysis of a ninth-grade integrated science curriculum developed and implemented by teachers within a high school science department and subsequently sustained for over 25 years. The Integrated Science Program (ISP) at Lakeside Southwest High School depicted here offers a unique example of longitudinal…

Examined is the influence and developmental nature of science processes. Results indicated that a one-semester process skills course was effective in developing a basis for science content acquisition. Additional gains can be obtained in an extended curricular sequence. (Author/CW)

Reports on 18 months of action research that examined the effectiveness of using the history of science to promote British students' understanding of the nature of science. Both quantitative and interview data offer substantial evidence of a strategic movement away from serendipitous empiricism and toward an appreciation of the interactive nature…

More than 1,600 middle school students, including an experimental group exposed to the Biological Science Curriculum Study (BSCS), were administered the Modified Nature of Scientific Knowledge Scale. Results indicate that the students utilizing the traditional science curriculum possessed a significantly better understanding of the testable nature…