Teaching astronomy to young generations is of great importance because astronomy education helps us to better understand the world we are living in and to find answers to our questions. In this regard, the current study aimed to determine the secondary school 4th grade students' mental models of the astronomer. The current research is designed as…

One of the foremost challenges for K-12 teachers is to provide relevant learning experiences in an environment of increasing accountability and student diversity. This balance is particularly consequential for students with disabilities who rely on special and general education teachers to ensure access to and success within the general…

Concepts of genetics are often difficult to teach, specifically the central concept of gene. Even the scientists disagree when defining this concept. This paper investigates university students' understanding about the gene and its functions. The results show the dominance of two conceptions of the gene: the Neoclassical model and the Mendelian…

Teaching the use of models in scientific research requires a description, in general terms, of how scientists actually use models in their research activities. This paper aims to arrive at defining common characteristics of models that are used in present-day scientific research. Initially, a list of common features of models and modelling, based…

This booklet discusses the definition and purpose of a comprehensive needs assessment, summarizes information on eight selected needs assessment models, and presents a step-by-step plan for school districts to follow in conducting a comprehensive needs assessment. The main part of the booklet consists of a detailed outline for conducting a school…

Describes a national survey aimed at defining effectiveness for public libraries that asked 7 constituent groups (library managers, staff, trustees, users, friends of the library, local officials, and community leaders) to rate the importance of 61 effectiveness indicators. The complex and multidimensional nature of the results is discussed and…

The project described achieved two major objectives--the development of a model of a system for recognition of individual participation in professional continuing education by library/media/information personnel, and the development and demonstration of a prototype home study program to show that this learning mode can meet criteria for quality…

Individuals, agencies, and institutions involved in the education and employment of teachers conceptually defined parity relevant to the decision-making process in planning, conducting, and evaluating teacher education programs and translated the conceptual definition into an instrument for describing parity in consortium-centered teacher…

This paper discusses the concept of school boundary permeability and describes the field testing and revision of the Parent-School Communities Questionnaire (PSCQ), a survey questionnaire designed to measure the permeability of school boundaries. The concept of permeability assumes that any social system, such as a school, is surrounded by a…

Described are six elementary schools in Virginia that were judged as meeting nine criteria for programs facilitating participatory decision-making by teachers. The term "participatory decision-making" refers to the sharing of decisions on school policies and practices between teachers and school administrators. Information on the…

This document examines adult and community learning (ACL) and quality programs across England. The difficulties faced by local education agencies' ACL services in delivering quality are noted, along with ways quality improvement has been supported. Quality programs--whether internal or external, based on awards, or used as diagnostic tools--are…

In order to establish a theoretical basis for the development of a classroom discipline model that could be used by secondary vocational teachers, a study investigated the problems experienced by vocational teachers in maintaining classroom discipline, the causes of such discipline problems, and techniques used to rectify classroom discipline…

This evaluation manual consists of information pertaining to the program evaluation process and the Washington Community College Evaluation Model. Following a discussion of evaluating vocational education programs, an annotated bibliography of nine works on vocational program evaluation is provided. Covered next are legal implications of program…

This document presents a training module designed to help adult literacy program providers in New York and elsewhere to use the principles of social marketing to improve recruitment and retention in adult education programming. Literacy program providers are taught to view the social marketing process as a process of exchange between themselves as…

A group of adult educators in England conducted seven case studies to identify strategies for recognizing adult students' learning progress in nonaccredited programs. The case studies identified the following elements of good practice in the process of recording and validating achievement: (1) initial identification of learning objectives; (2)…