Physiology teaching-learning methods have passed through several changes over the years. The traditional model of education appears to be linked to the teacher, who resists the use of tools and methods designed to provide something different to the student, depriving the student of new things or even the motivation to realize the applicability of…

How can educators provide children with a genuine experience of carrying out an extended scientific investigation? And can teachers change the perception of what it means to be a scientist? These were key questions that lay behind "The Human Condition" project, an initiative funded by the Primary Science Teaching Trust to explore a new…

TIMSS measures trends in mathematics and science achievement at the fourth and eighth grades in participating countries around the world, while also monitoring curricular implementation and identifying promising instructional practices. Conducted on a regular 4-year cycle, TIMSS has assessed mathematics and science in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, and…

Despite being criticised for placing little emphasis on thinking, the majority of laboratory work at school level is taught "via" expository "recipe-style" labs. This has been seen to result in students struggling to be able to apply the practical techniques they have learnt in the classroom outside the narrow environment in which they were…

This article discusses the findings of a survey of centres using the "Twenty First Century Science" suite of GCSE courses, focusing on the impact of its introduction on the number of students beginning AS-level courses in the sciences. The data indicate increases of 24% to 38% in the numbers beginning AS-level courses in the three main…

We analyse the origin and development of an Experimental Design course which has been taught in several faculties of the Universidad de la Republica and other institutions in Uruguay, over a 10-year period. At the end of the course, students were assessed by carrying out individual work projects on real-life problems, which was innovative for…

The results of using laboratory instruction as part of the total biology program in the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study are reported. (Author/SA)

Reports the results of a national survey on teaching introductory physics at the college level. Lists the names of the most frequently used textbooks, reasons for changing textbooks used earlier, information regarding laboratory manuals, and instructor's comments on this type of course. (YP)

Summarizes the results from a questionnaire developed to reflect both local concerns and those of national studies in elementary science education in Kansas. The questionnaire included items concerning methods of science instruction, class time spent on science, teacher preparation, approach to metric system, science textual material, and…