Reported is a study to determine whether 249 ninth-grade students completing the third year of the Intermediate Science Curriculum Study (ISCS) instructional sequence performed differently on 19 conservation tasks than did 239 non-ISCS ninth-grade students. The tasks were presented via 35-mm color slides and a tape-recorded protocol. Students in…

In a longitudinal study, third grade children using Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) materials were compared with comparable non-SCIS children. Data analysis showed SCIS children superior to non-SCIS children. (PS)

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether success in the Science - A Process Approach (SAPA) process of classification designed for primary grade children is contingent upon the children's developmental level as defined by Piaget's theory. The investigators sought to determine whether children who had reached the concrete operational…

This study attempted to determine at what grade levels children develop the ability to combine and control variables, the effect of the elementary science program on this development, and the relationship between a child's ability to control variables and his ability to form combinations of variables. (GS)

This document describes an empirical study on the patterns of teacher behavior and a comparison of student outcomes from two settings where different programs (types of curricula) were used. The two psychological positions identified within the curricula were stated to have been operationalized in the two programs developed for the elementary…

Assesses the physics, chemistry and biology content of the Nuffield Combined Science Course used in British schools by experimental testing to children's understanding of the course. A model by which the pupils' achievement is mapped to an estimate of their maximum Piagetian level of thinking is presented. (HM)

Presents a classroom activity which can be used both to assess student's modes of thought and to clarify the logic of hypothesis testing. The task is based on Piaget's theories of cognitive development. (HM)

Examines the relationship between Piagetian stage of development and achievement on the Australian Science Education Project (ASEP) unit "The Human Machine." Fifty-seven secondary school age boys took the Tisher-Dale "Understanding in Science Test" as a measure of cognitive development as well as the ASEP unit exam. The…

Reported is a study using tasks described by Piaget and Inhelder to evaluate changes in reasoning ability. The tasks were to evaluate the development of interpropositional logic, i.e., formal operations. The tasks used were validated using a formal operational population. They were administered at the beginning and end of the school year to…

This study was designed to simulate some aspects of classroom verbal interaction and to investigate their cognitive effects on students, using cognitive theory as the theoretical rationale. Subject-determined verbalization of correct cues was crossed with external sources of verbalized correct cues in a multivariable design in which sex was…

Four types of proportionality problems were administered to: (1) secondary school students who were enrolled in Project Physics, and (2) students not enrolled in physics. Both samples were randomly selected. Groups were not found to differ significantly in problem solving ability but both revealed that the ability to solve certain problems was…

This report presents the results of an investigation of the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) program and the effects of the Materials Objects unit on first-grade students and teachers. The contents of the report include purposes and limitations of the study, discussion of the instruments, observers, reliability of the Q sort, the…

The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to answer the question of which abilities, from a selected set of 12 abilities from the structure-of-intellect model of Guilford, were related to achievement in Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC) physics, and, second, to determine how the physics achievement prediction properties of these…

Describes some of the conceptual, measurement, and methodological problems associated with evaluating science curricula in terms of their impact on students' content-free cognitive outcomes. A study of the effects of including ASEP (Australian Science Education Project) materials into a seventh-grade program revealed several significant…

Presented is a bibliography that cites research studies and articles related to Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS), and provides a brief summary of these research studies and articles and some commentary within 5 categories. These 5 categories are: (1) SCIS and teachers, 8 studies or articles are reported within this category which are…