Engaging elementary students in evidence-based reasoning is an essential aspect of science and engineering education. Evidence-based reasoning involves students making claims (i.e., answers to questions, or solutions to problems), providing evidence to support those claims, and articulating their reasoning to connect the evidence to the claim. In…

A weak negative attitude towards learning science was noticed among the students in Qatar, a matter that was reflected on their achievement in national tests. To test if the use of PBL would improve the students' attitudes towards learning science, a sample of 25 nine graders from Hamza school were motivated to plan their own investigations and to…

In this article, the author analyzes an inquiry-based project in order to examine students' efforts to build interpretations from evidence. This project fits within the Standards definition of scientific inquiry in several ways: (1) Students used previously learned biological concepts and principles to guide their inquiries; (2) Students relied on…

The Collaboratory Notebook is a networked hypermedia database that allows students to collaborate on scientific inquiries across boundaries of time and space. Developed as part of the Learning Through Collaborative Visualization (CoVis) networking testbed, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, this software expands on the idea of…

Analyzes the applicability to mathematics and science education of geographic information systems. Gives examples of possible applications involving aerosol detection in the atmosphere, verification of satellite images, and the Kidnet Project. Sketches out a research agenda and describes needed characteristics of the software when applied to…

Mapping Our City is a two-year project in which middle school teachers and students in Boston explore the uses of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in project-based science, environmental education, and geography. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation and is being field tested in three Boston middle school science classrooms.…

Describes student involvement within interdisciplinary, cooperative-learning environments that utilize desktop publishing, computer interfacing, and video production to promote students' investigation, analysis, and synthesis of scientific issues. Each student group is guided by a preservice university partner, from a science methods course, to…