"Approaches and Strategies in Next Generation Science Learning" examines the challenges involved in the development of modern curriculum models, teaching strategies, and assessments in science education in order to prepare future students in the 21st century economies. This comprehensive collection of research brings together science educators,…

The correlation between ontogeny and phylogeny is analyzed through the discussion of four theories on the reality, history, epigenetic, and ecological aspects of the mechanism of evolution. Also discussed are historical and creative aspects of evolution and three epigenetic mechanisms instantiated in the case of the amphibian embryo. (Author/RH)

Argues that ontogenetic and phylogenetic theories are related and that such a coupling can be established only in reference to a metatheory. The metatheory is construed in terms of a combination of logical coherence and requirements necessary for generalization as well as comprehensive, philosophical representations of living beings (e.g.,…

Discusses ontogeny and phylogeny in Piaget's work, differences between Piagetian (constructivist) and Darwinian (selectionist) approaches, and problems associated with transposing conceptual systems from one field to another. (RH)

Argues for unifying the conceptual frameworks of theories of evolution so that problems and their solutions in one theory may be transposed and explored in the others. The argument is used to reconsider the mutationist and Darwinian theories of evolution in the light of Piaget's nonstandard theory of evolution. (Author/RH)

Researchers who study the fossil record are seeking to determine whether the impact made by a comet or meteor really did decimate up to half of the life on this planet at the end of the Cretaceous period. Questions whether the extinction of plant and animal life was abrupt, started before the impact, or was a gradual change. (KR)

A novel theory about Earth's ancient history is presented. It is proposed that North America and Antarctica once lay side by side for perhaps as long as a billion years. The importance of these continental connections to geology and other disciplines is discussed. (KR)

Discusses how genetic data on present human population relationships and data from the Pleistocene fossil hominid record are being used to compare two contrasting models for the origin of modern humans. (TW)

The modern history of biology shows how Darwin's selectionist theory has replaced instructionist theories in explaining the operations of living things: first with inheritance through the gene pool of the 1850s, and second with the replacement of a template theory of immune system function in the 1960s. Today scholars in several disciplines…

Evolution education is of increasing interest to the science education community. This special issue of the "Journal of Research in Science Teaching" has been devoted to the subject of evolution. The following articles are included: (1) "Evolution: Biological Education's Under-Researched Unifying Theme" by Catherine L. Cummins, Sherry S. Demastes,…

Discusses the conditions for validating customary phylogenetic procedures. Concludes that the requisites of homogeneity and completeness for proved short lineages seem satisfied by the Hennigian but not the Haeckelian procedure. The epistemological antinomy of the two procedures is emphasized for the first time. (Author/RH)

Explores conditions that facilitate or obstruct the internationalization of social science knowledge. Distinguishes among facets and types of knowledge and meanings of internationalization. Illustrates the international applicability of knowledge through examinations of classical economics and development theory. Identifies conflicting forces that…

This critique of John Langton's behavioral evolutionist account of the development of bureaucracy in the 18th Century British pottery industry contends that the evolutionary explanation rests on unexamined functionalist assumptions which overlook social costs and the mediating effects of the class structure and the profit motive. (TE)

Langton responds to Perrow's critique of his behavioral evolutionism by addressing four broad issues: the relationship between organizational evolution and environmental structure; the role of human creativity in organizational evolution; the relationship between social power and bureaucratization; and the relationship between organizational…

The relationship between Eastern and Western languages is explored. Possible origins and the spread of language over the Eurasian land mass are discussed. (CW)