Describes a study of an inner-city youth gardening program and the kinds of learning opportunities it supported that emerged from youth-initiated actions. Examines the ways in which the garden environment and the experiential nature of the program gave support to the emergence of learning opportunities while making connections between science,…

Two focusing hypotheses were evaluated. First, do adjunct questions, focusing on science concepts and inserted after computer-animated sequences, selectively alter students' attentional processing and thus produce differential learning effects? Second, to these questions still provide enough metacognitive scaffolding to produce differential…

Examined the interrelationships among three major components of classroom teaching: subject matter content knowledge, classroom management, and instructional practices. Observations of a middle school science teacher found that the teacher's limited knowledge of science content and strict classroom order resulted in heavy dependence on the…

Examines the relative importance of middle school students' explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge in carrying out open-ended laboratory investigations. Results indicate the students (n=207) provided with explicit knowledge through instruction performed significantly better in overall achievement in such investigations than those using only tacit…

Reports on the development and validation of a new junior high school version of the Test On Understanding Science (TOUS).

Assesses the role of science topic instruction combined with logical reasoning strategy instruction in teaching high school students about blood pressure problems. Reports positive effects of the combined instruction compared to science topic instruction. (Author/YP)

Describes the interplay of goals, teacher development, and assessment in the context of a yearlong research and development project designed to integrate the teaching of science, reading, and writing processes in a conceptually based, constructivist curriculum for middle school students who read below grade level. (ZWH)

Reports on the design of a model for transformational science teaching that focuses on linking theory with practice through curriculum decision making. This model is the framework for professional-development sessions for middle-grade science teachers. Contains 63 references. (DDR)

Describes the development and validation of a 56-item science and engineering career interest survey for seventh- through ninth-grade students. The survey includes questions on occupational activities, selection of occupations, and an internal verification scale. Results indicate significant differences in career interest for boys and girls. (DH)

Examined are the global issues of population growth, world hunger, air quality and atmosphere, and water resources in 10 middle school science textbooks. Less than two percent of text pages were devoted to these issues and no significant differences were found between textbook series. (Author/YP)

Discussed are the effects of a scientific literacy course on subsequent learning in a traditional biology course. Scientific literacy, Piagetian theory, schema theory, and metacognition as the framework for the development of the literacy course are discussed. (KR)

Investigated were the determinants of intentions to enroll in a high school science course by middle school earth science students. The impact on intentions of students' attitudes, social pressures, and specific external variables are discussed. (KR)

Examined relationships between teaching behaviors and student engagement in 13 middle school science classes. Results indicated that seven managerial variables and four instructional variables were significantly related to student engagement rates. Types of tasks allocated by teachers were also significantly related to types of tasks undertaken by…

Examined is the hypothesis that an important intellectual acquisition during adolescence is the ability to generate arguments that involve reasoning to contradiction. Implication for hypothesis teaching at the elementary grades is discussed. (KR)

The effect of intervention lessons designed to accelerate the development of formal operations taught over a period of two years to adolescents was assessed. Results indicated that the experimental group had achieved a significantly greater gain in cognitive levels than the control group. Implications are discussed. (CW)