The ability to design and interpret controlled experiments is an important scientific process skill and a common objective of science standards. Numerous intervention studies have investigated how the control-of-variables-strategy (CVS) can be introduced to students. However, a meta-analysis of 72 intervention studies found that the opportunity to…

Powerful online visualizations can make unobservable scientific phenomena visible and improve student understanding. Instead, they often confuse or mislead students. To clarify the impact of molecular visualizations for middle school students we explored three design variations implemented in a Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE) unit on…

Performed a variance analysis of the relation between the amount of time students spend experiencing hands-on science and science achievement. Reports that students who engaged in hands-on activities frequently scored significantly higher on a standardized test of science achievement than students who did not. (Author/JRH)

Reports on a study of elementary and middle school students' (n=254) intentions to perform science learning activities. Finds that students value different sources of information and support relative to their intention to engage in science learning activities. Contains 40 references. (Author/WRM)

This was an experiment to test the extended discretion laboratory approach versus a guided-inquiry approach for teaching biology in a university setting. Among three criterion variables (examination, reports, and quizzes), only the laboratory report scores showed differences between groups and group-by-instructor interaction. (Author/YP)

Examines the role of practical activities in secondary science from an international perspective and contrasts this to a developing country's perspective. Discusses research studies on training teachers to include physics practical work in Indonesia and the benefits and constraints of implementing practical work in physics classrooms. Contains 37…

Discusses preliminary research on a new heuristic tool for learning from laboratory activities in secondary science. Finds that use of the science writing heuristic facilitated students in generating meaning from data; making connections among procedures, data, evidence, and claims; and engaging in metacognition. (Contains 29 references.)…

Tests in each science area were developed around six laboratory tasks. Students had to plan an investigation, collect and organize data, and formulate conclusions based on calculations and graphs. Over 1,000 students from 32 Ohio schools formed the sample for this study. Data are presented by skill and by task. An analysis for gender and school…

Early adolescents may lack the cognitive and metacognitive skills necessary for effective inquiry learning. In particular, they are likely to have a nonnormative mental model of multivariable causality in which effects of individual variables are neither additive nor consistent. Described here is a software-based intervention designed to…