The present study explores ways to enhance students' question-asking ability (i.e., the ability to ask critical questions), which is the premise of scientific inquiry and a precondition for effective science teaching. A survey of junior high school students in Zhejiang province in China showed that students' questioning behavior was not well…

Race has been a longstanding topic in the biology textbook curriculum. Yet, there appears to be no research investigating whether the treatment of race in modern biology textbooks impacts how students conceptualize race. In the present study, a double-blind field experiment employing mixed-methods is used to investigate the impact of…

Students at the junior high school (JHS) level often cannot use their knowledge of physics for explaining and predicting phenomena. We claim that this difficulty stems from the fact that explanations are multi-step reasoning tasks, and students often lack the qualitative problem-solving strategies needed to guide them. This article describes a new…

This study examines the process by which system thinking perceptions develop within the context of a water cycle curriculum. Four junior high school students undergoing an especially designed inquiry-based intervention were closely observed before, during, immediately after, and 6 years after completing a year long systems-based learning program.…

In this study we investigated junior high school students' processes of argumentation and cognitive development in science and socioscientific lessons. Detailed studies of the relationship between argumentation and the development of scientific knowledge are rare. Using video and audio documents of small group and classroom discussions, the…

This longitudinal study investigated the progression in junior high school (JHS) students' conceptions of the structure of matter while studying a new instructional approach dealing with "Materials." In particular, we studied the progression of students' learning along two dimensions: (a) the conceptual model; and (b) the context of application.…

Examination of data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY) to find effects of family commitment in education on student achievement in seventh-grade science found that around 22% of the variance in student science achievement could be explained by the selected significant LSAY variables. (Author/MKR)

Examined junior high school students' (N=2175) perceptions of actual and preferred classroom environment and teachers' (N=56) perceptions of the actual environment. Results indicated that students preferred a more favorable environment that was perceived as being actually present, and that teachers perceived their classroom environment more…

Determined if junior high school students prefer to study plants or animals and if their preferences are related to variables of grade level and/or sex. Findings show that, overall, students prefer animal study over plant study. Other findings (such as girls having a greater interest in biological topics than boys) are discussed. (JN)

This paper reports the evaluation of instructional provisions designed to foster higher cognitive skill in a computer programming course. This intervention explicitly encourages novice programmers to engage in the problem-solving skill of planning. (Author)

Determined extent to which eighth-grade students' (N=35) knowledge of concepts relevant to mineral classification influenced their ability to classify minerals and which concepts were most influential. Results showed that 58.7% of variance in correct mineral classification was accounted for by students' knowledge of relevant concepts, particularly…

Investigated relationships of mathematics/science achievement, science self-concept, and sex to science career preferences of Black male (N=113) and female (N=148) junior high school students. Findings suggest that early adolescent science career preferences are related more to interests consonant with sex-role considerations than realistic…

Study of the science museum exhibit preference of upper elementary children and adults found that girls were more likely than boys to use puzzles and exhibits focusing on the human body and boys were more likely to use computers and exhibits illustrating physical science principles. Contains 56 references. (Author/MKR)

Assesses the effects of a one-day inservice program for junior high school science teachers emphasizing an activity-oriented science curriculum and management strategies necessary for such a curriculum. Results indicate inservice positively affects teacher attitudes toward strategies and student achievement in science. (DS)

Tests the hypothesis that maturing prefrontal lobes play a role in the development of proportional reasoning skill because the prefrontal lobes are involved in the inhibition of task-irrelevant information and the representation of task-irrelevant information. Assigns students randomly to manipulative or verbal tutoring groups and tests both…