Students at the junior high school (JHS) level often cannot use their knowledge of physics for explaining and predicting phenomena. We claim that this difficulty stems from the fact that explanations are multi-step reasoning tasks, and students often lack the qualitative problem-solving strategies needed to guide them. This article describes a new…

Examination of data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth (LSAY) to find effects of family commitment in education on student achievement in seventh-grade science found that around 22% of the variance in student science achievement could be explained by the selected significant LSAY variables. (Author/MKR)

Examined junior high school students' (N=2175) perceptions of actual and preferred classroom environment and teachers' (N=56) perceptions of the actual environment. Results indicated that students preferred a more favorable environment that was perceived as being actually present, and that teachers perceived their classroom environment more…

Determined if junior high school students prefer to study plants or animals and if their preferences are related to variables of grade level and/or sex. Findings show that, overall, students prefer animal study over plant study. Other findings (such as girls having a greater interest in biological topics than boys) are discussed. (JN)

This paper reports the evaluation of instructional provisions designed to foster higher cognitive skill in a computer programming course. This intervention explicitly encourages novice programmers to engage in the problem-solving skill of planning. (Author)

Determined extent to which eighth-grade students' (N=35) knowledge of concepts relevant to mineral classification influenced their ability to classify minerals and which concepts were most influential. Results showed that 58.7% of variance in correct mineral classification was accounted for by students' knowledge of relevant concepts, particularly…

Investigated relationships of mathematics/science achievement, science self-concept, and sex to science career preferences of Black male (N=113) and female (N=148) junior high school students. Findings suggest that early adolescent science career preferences are related more to interests consonant with sex-role considerations than realistic…

Study of the science museum exhibit preference of upper elementary children and adults found that girls were more likely than boys to use puzzles and exhibits focusing on the human body and boys were more likely to use computers and exhibits illustrating physical science principles. Contains 56 references. (Author/MKR)

Assesses the effects of a one-day inservice program for junior high school science teachers emphasizing an activity-oriented science curriculum and management strategies necessary for such a curriculum. Results indicate inservice positively affects teacher attitudes toward strategies and student achievement in science. (DS)

Tests the hypothesis that maturing prefrontal lobes play a role in the development of proportional reasoning skill because the prefrontal lobes are involved in the inhibition of task-irrelevant information and the representation of task-irrelevant information. Assigns students randomly to manipulative or verbal tutoring groups and tests both…

Describes an in-school intervention project that used female role models to change the attitudes of 964 Iowa girls and boys in 57 ninth-grade science classes toward science, math, and technical curricula and careers. Results indicated that attitudes of girls and boys who participated in the study improved more than attitudes of girls and boys in…

Examines the effects of a continuous schedule vs a partial schedule of feedback on learning. The feedback takes the form of grades and comments on laboratory reports in a grade eight laboratory-oriented program. (GA)

Integrated quantitatively the collective research dealing with the effects of the Intermediate Science Curriculum Study (ISCS) on student performance and attitude. The weighted mean effect size was 0.09, indicating that the performance of ISCS students was 0.09 standard deviations about the performance of students in traditional science courses.…

Examined three methods which can be used to pool single-item-per-subject data collected in intensive time-series studies, determining if method of pooling has an effect on subsequent data analysis. Methods examined were based on simple averaging, difficulty weightings of averages, and the application of the Rasch logistic model. (JM)

Reports on some of the findings of a study involving 25 inner-city students and designed to use students' writing to follow their conceptual changes over a 12-week science unit. Students' writing showed changes in central concepts, complexity, and organization as the lessons progressed. Contains 31 references. (ZWH)