Attempts to assess the impact of the NSF science curriculum projects have been generally unsatisfactory. Much of the NSF impact on science education will probably continue to defy quantification. Whether or not the new curricula achieve their goal of increasing scientific literacy among the public can only be evaluated over the lifetimes of the…

Described is the Center for Educational Research and Evaluation, established to provide focus for new initiatives in science education research and to strengthen the commitment of the Biological Science Curriculum Study to curriculum development, evaluation, and research. Research efforts include problem solving and status of middle school science…

Presented is a detailed study of National Science Foundation programs in pre-college science education. The development of policies and operational procedures were traced over the past quarter of a century and their impact on management practice was analyzed. The report is presented in two parts: Volume 1, the findings and recommendations, and…

This package includes compaction plans, enrichment opportunities designed to be substituted for the basic science curriculum already mastered, and extensive bibliographies of materials and books for gifted students in the Orono (Minnesota) school district. The project focused on training seven science teachers for cluster teaching of students…

Discusses the need to determine the extent to which NSF-supported curriculum materials have been implemented. Reviews the Concerns Based Adoption Model and describes how science educators might use this model to understand and manage curriculum implementation processes. (DS)

The world of science education is rich with guidelines on what the science curriculum should include, but impoverished in time and money to create real programs for students that reflect these guidelines effectively. This handbook is designed to assist teachers and administrators in charting a course through the maze of new national and state…

Presented is a detailed study of National Science Foundation (NSF) programs in pre-college science education. The development of policies and operational procedures are traced over the past quarter century and their impact on management practice analyzed. The report is presented in two parts: Volume 1, the findings and recommendations, and Volume…

Twenty-five years of research comparing student performance in NSF-funded science curricula to student performance in traditional courses was examined as part of a comprehensive synthesis of science education research. These curricula were found to be consistently more effective, suggesting that their philosophies/strategies/materials be…

The three stages of evaluation of the instructional modules of the Crustal Evolution Evaluation Project (CEEP) are described. Self-instructional evaluation procedures were developed and used. These are presently available to science educators through NAGT or the ERIC system. (SA)

This codebook for a machine-readable data file contains the frequencies for the values of variables for cases that are the individual activities in the Surroundings module of the BSCS Human Sciences Program. Students rated each activity on a six-item, Likert-type scale and responded to open-ended questions about the activity. Surroundings was one…

This document contains most of the evaluation instruments and instructions for evaluation used in the 1973-76 field test of Levels I, II, and III of the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) Human Sciences Program, a 3-year, interdisciplinary science program for 11- to 14-year olds. Since the materials were retrieved from teachers guides,…

This codebook for a machine-readable data file contains frequencies for the values of 310 variables for 446 student cases that comprised the field test data from the testing of Knowing, a Level III module of the BSCS Human Sciences Program. This module was developed and field tested with eighth-grade students in middle schools and junior high…

This codebook for a machine-readable data file contains the frequencies for the value of 23 variables for each of the 3,173 student-activity evaluation interactions (cases) for the 44 activities in the Human Sciences Knowing Module. Students rated each activity on an eight-item, Likert-type scale and responded to open-ended questions about the…

This codebook for a machine-readable data file contains frequencies for the values of 1,275 variables for 734 student cases that comprise the field-test data from the BSCS Human Sciences curriculum project. This three-year interdisciplinary science curriculum, designed for 11- to 14-year-olds, was field-tested in seven middle and junior high…

This codebook for a machine-readable data file contains eight variables that describe the characteristics of 623 activities or activity parts that comprise the activities used in the field test of the BSCS Human Sciences Program, 1973 to 1976, and 1977, in middle and junior high schools in the United States. The file also includes 52 variables…