This study tracked the influence of explicit reflective instructional methods on cultural values, ethical and intellectual development, and the relationship of these with preservice teachers' views of nature of science (NOS). The researchers used the Views of Nature of Science Form B (VNOS B) to describe NOS views, the Learning Context…

Recent arguments in science education have proposed that school science should pay more attention to teaching the nature of science and its social practices. However, unlike the content of science, for which there is well-established consensus, there would appear to be much less unanimity within the academic community about which…

This study assessed the influence of a 3-year professional development program on elementary teachers' views of nature of science (NOS), instructional practice to promote students' appropriate NOS views, and the influence of participants' instruction on elementary student NOS views. Using the VNOS-B and associated interviews the researchers…

This study examined the views, and the retention of these views, of 19 preservice elementary teachers as they learned about nature of science (NOS). The preservice teachers participated in a cohort group as they took a science methods course during which they received explicit reflective instruction in nature of science. Through Views of Nature of…

Investigates the influence of five cognitive variables on high school students' performance on balancing chemical equations by inspection. Reports that reasoning, restructuring, and disembedding variables could be a single variable, and that working memory capacity does not influence overall performance. Results of hierarchical regression analysis…

Identifies an induced incorrect generalization as a generative cause for the formation of misconception. Analyzes students' protocol of an exploratory learning experiment about the laws of reflection of light. Suggests recommendations for textbook, teaching, and practical work. (Author/YP)

Investigates the remediation of misconceptions through application of Gagne's hierarchical learning theory. Uses stoichiometry, food levels, and conservation of mechanical energy as the target concepts. Reports that there was no treatment effect in analysis of covariance using pretest scores as a covariant. (YP)

This study examined and supported the efforts of Tina, an experienced elementary teacher, in helping her fourth graders internalize informed views of the inferential, tentative, and creative nature of science (NOS). Tina held informed views of, and was motivated to teach about, NOS. The study aimed to answer the following question: What specific…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the nature of a first-year elementary teacher's specialized practices and knowledge for giving priority to evidence in science teaching and to explore the possible sources from which this knowledge was generated. Data included three audiotaped interviews, six videotaped classroom…

This case study focused on a preservice teachers' (Morgan) efforts to explicitly emphasize nature of science (NOS) elements in her first-grade internship classroom. The study assessed the change in first grade students' views of the inferential, tentative, and creative NOS as a result of the explicit instruction. Morgan held appropriate views of…

This study investigated the influence of two different explicit instructional approaches in promoting more informed understandings of nature of science (NOS) among students. Participants, a total of 42 students, comprised two groups in two intact sections of ninth grade. Participants in the two groups were taught environmental science by their…

The Arizona Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers (ACEPT) Program is one of several reform efforts supported by the National Science Foundation. The primary ACEPT reform mechanism has been month-long summer workshops in which university and community college science and mathematics faculty learn about instructional reforms…