Informal learning environments such as Natural History Museums can introduce visitors to a variety of topics in evolution by providing accessible representations of concepts like geological time, evolutionary mechanisms, biological diversity, geological time, and fossil dating. Our study examined sixth-grade students' conceptualization of…

Determined relative effects of rhetorical, factual, valuing, and hypothesizing question types when these questions were interspersed throughout the reading passage in textual materials for students (N=383) in introductory biology. Reported results are based on a 20-item test given immediately after reading the passage, 2 weeks later, and 9 weeks…

Comments on a recent article by DeLuca on electronic "measurement of logical thinking" questioning four aspects of the article. DeLuca responds to the criticism on those four aspects in question. (GA)

After learners of varying ability levels were provided with different types of remedial assistance, the effects on short-term cognitive achievement, retention, and attitudes toward instruction and subject matter were investigated. (Author/GA)

This study examined the views, and the retention of these views, of 19 preservice elementary teachers as they learned about nature of science (NOS). The preservice teachers participated in a cohort group as they took a science methods course during which they received explicit reflective instruction in nature of science. Through Views of Nature of…

Examines the effect of verbalization on the formation and retention of mental images in children in kindergarten, first, and fifth grades. Reports no self-generated verbalization effect with gender or ability level and no retention effect. (Author)

Studied the relationship of teachers' I/D ratio to their students' achievement and retention of learning in senior high chemistry and junior high general science classes. Concluded that the student score on a standardized achievement test was dependent on the teacher I/D ratio as measured on Flanders scale. (CC)

Investigates the additive memory effect of two modes of presenting information to elementary children on the retention of both images and words. Children represented more information in pictorial than in verbal form. The visual-verbal treatment group scored higher on most of both verbal and pictorial responses than the visual treatment group.…

Compares 7 biology faculty members, 9 genetic counselors, and 26 undergraduate students according to both expertise and problem-solving success within the domain of genetics. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that as expertise is attained, the individual restructures knowledge into a framework based upon the critical dimensions which…

Investigated the effect on achievement and retention of providing students enrolled in a grade 11 biology course with precisely stated learning outcomes prior to instruction. Results show that the experimental group performed significantly higher than did the control group on both tests. (HM)

Examined are the effects of testing on the achievement of students using self-instructional materials to learn science process skills. Results indicated that frequent quizzes did not differentially affect process skill acquisition. (Author/CW)

One thousand twenty-two seventh grade students in country and city schools enrolled in Intermediate Science Curriculum Study (ISCS) programs were the subjects of this study. Differences in learning rates and retention levels were found to be related to pacing, mental ability, and grouping. (CP)

Six biology teachers and 90 students participated in this study. Results indicate that teachers can be trained to use a systematic questioning technique, trained teachers can employ the technique in classroom settings, and students taught by the technique achieve higher and retain knowledge longer than those in control groups. (JN)

Investigates the effects of teaching 120 first grade children specific strategies for nonvisual seriation on their performance on post-tests and retention tests. Results show that simple seriation can be learned and retained. (HM)

Explores the idea that retention of particular concepts must occur before a student can transfer his learning to new situations. Investigates retention and transfer of fifth and sixth graders, in which achievement level was assessed on some advanced concepts as a function of performance on related basic concepts. (CS)