We conducted a study with introductory and upper-division physics students in a Mexican university to learn how students independently recognize the electric field's main characteristics in the electric field lines diagram and as a source or target representation in conversion processes. We used the theory of registers of semiotic representations…

In "Belonging and Identity in STEM Higher Education," leading scholars, teachers, practitioners and students explore belonging and identity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields, and how this is impacted by disciplinary changes and the post-pandemic higher education context. In STEM fields, positivist…

Despite several decades of research into the teaching and learning of Science/Chemistry, at both secondary and tertiary level, it has had relatively little impact on practice. In many countries interest in studying Science at school and university is falling, and there is concern over falling numbers and falling standards. There is a changing…

Reported are statistics for research and development in chemistry. Provided are (1) an overview; (2) breakdowns of statistics regarding the federal government, industry, and universities and colleges in the United States; and (3) international research and development. Data are presented in graphs and tables. (CW)

The misconceptions related to the concepts of force and acceleration among college students are explored. Misconceptions are identified and their occurrence among a large percentage of students are observed. Provided are some implications for physics teaching and an eight-item test. (Author/YP)

The Sunderland Conference on the Nature and Teaching of Environmental Science/Studies in Higher Education provided an opportunity to review progress in the field and assess its state in the mid 1980s. This volume contains an edited selection of the 49 papers presented at the conference. Section A, "Nature and Philosophy," contains discussions of…

Engineering in higher education has the lowest proportion of women students when compared with other fields of study. This book discusses the issues and problems that face the training and promotion of women at the university level. Part one discusses the background and trends of female participation in different regions and disciplines of higher…

Reports on a study in which the Introductory Science Teacher Education (ISTE) instructional package was used to promote favorable science related attitudes in preservice teachers in Nigeria. Reports that the ISTE could produce better science related attitudes than the traditional science teacher program. (CW)

Reports on a study designed to elicit detailed views on the subject matter content for a biochemistry curriculum. Includes the questionnaire and mean results for each question, in which respondents were asked to indicate the importance of a subtopic, the actual coverage of that subtopic, and the "ideal" coverage. (TW)

Examines the psychology of learning and its application to work in the laboratory. States that the working memory capacity of students is limited; therefore the amount of information they can process needs to be controlled and "recipe following" in the laboratory is perfectly reasonable. (RT)

Described are the university training centers for engineers in France. The profiles of applicants, the distribution of students over different specializations, and the salary progression for engineering graduates are discussed. (KR)

Reported are some data on both knowledge and perception of science and technology from a sample of adults in Perth, Western Australia. The results are compared to those of the United Kingdom. Included are the sampling and survey procedure, sample questions, results, and the discussion. (KR)

A questionnaire and demonstrations were used to identify students' conceptions about the composition of orthogonal velocities. Four questions from the questionnaire are provided and the results for each question are reported. The four implicit vector characteristics of this study are appended. (YP)

The history of German universities and research institutions is part of the history of the culture of Europe and its university systems. This book surveys the history, structure, and promotion of the German university system. Discussed are the diversity of structure; differentiated assistance; the promotion of science in the federal state; freedom…

This paper reports an action study of conceptual change in mechanics using an instructional strategy based on a constructivist view of learning. The aims of the study were to determine: (1) what effect the instructional strategy had on achieving conceptual change; (2) what devices or strategies students used in their attempts to understand…