Scientists use judgment in deciding what and how much data to present in publications but science degrees rarely address this issue. Instead, scientific knowledge is presented as certain and students have limited opportunities to use their own judgment in the laboratory. A consequence of this may be that students approach science with a moral…

Low teacher self-efficacy is an important factor constraining the teaching of science at the elementary level. This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of particular sources of efficacy information for enhancing the science teaching self-efficacy of practicing elementary teachers. Twelve teachers participated in an intervention…

In this ethnographic study of summer undergraduate research (UR) experiences at four liberal arts colleges, where faculty and students work collaboratively on a project of mutual interest in an apprenticeship of authentic science research work, analysis of the accounts of faculty and student participants yields comparative insights into the…

Presents a rationale for providing preschool children with experiences related to classification, seriation, and pattern recognition because they are means by which a child can organize the world around him. These are considered to be the early steps in the long developmental sequence leading to logical thinking and reflective observation. (GS)

Although there was an increase in the proportion of students using the logical principle of exclusion" from grades 7 to 9 to 12, there was little relationship with IQ and socio-economic measures. (AL)

Presents a descriptive analogy comparing Piaget's theory of intellectual development to the development of athletic abilities in order to provide insight into Piagetian theory. (SL)

Analyzes the meaning of Piaget's concept of abstraction and provides discussion of some of its shortcomings. (HM)

Sixty-six elementary education upperclassmen were tested to determine their Piagetian stage of intellectual development. Results indicated 26 percent were very formal, 52 percent formal, 15 percent transitional, and 8 percent concrete. (SL)

Discusses and refutes Novak's arguments against Piaget's theory of intellectual development in favor of Ausubel's theory of meaningful verbal learning. (GA)

Advocates the educational theories of David Ausubel as a basis on which to build science and mathematics curricula and instructional procedures. Offers interpretations of Piaget's conservation tasks in Ausubelian theory. (CP)

Investigated whether instructing children in the component skills underlying Piagetian transitivity tasks would increase their performance on both transitivity-related tasks and on reasoning tasks not directly related to transitivity. Results indicate that incorporating the quantification of certain abstract symbols, training can influence…

Discusses the development of a list entitled Desired Characteristics of the Science Program for the Middle School'' and based on findings from physiological, psychological, and cognitive research of the in-between-ager.'' Included are two reports on school visitations and an abridged section of Transescence and the Middle School.'' (CC)

In this article a general model of mastery learning is developed and discussed using data gathered from operating applications of the mastery model in college classrooms. Suggestions for the implementation of the mastery model in the high school are also presented. (HM)

Reports results supporting the theoretical rationale that there are certain cognitive skills, including data interpretation, identification of assumptions and hypotheses, and controlling of variables, that appear to be necessary for successful understanding of the heterotroph hypothesis, as presented in the BSCS Blue Version. Implications for…

Argues that the failure of modern courses to achieve their declared goals in relation to children's understanding of science has two causes, namely teachers views about the nature of science, and a degree of confusion in the philosophical stance implicit in many science curricula. Presents a philosophical model for curricula. (CW)