GEANT4 simulations of the processes affecting the transport and collection of optical photons generated inside a scintillation detector were carried out, with the aim to complement the educational material offered by textbooks to third-year physics undergraduates. Two typical situations were considered: a long scintillator strip with and without a…

Describes the use of student projects within a traditional biology laboratory class to incorporate openness, inquiry techniques, and student choice into course teaching. Included is a list of sample investigations. (CC)

Describes the use of a simulation lesson which is written in TUTOR language for the PLATO computer for the purpose of separating a mixture of four ions with known identity. Indicates that students have more freedom to experiment than in laboratories in other traditional computer-assisted programs. (CC)

Described are graphic computer simulations of laboratory experiments in modern physics developed for student use prior to each laboratory and which replace pre-lab briefing. Experimental simulation is intended to familiarize the students with the experiment, and to allow the students to try a larger number of "experimental" combinations of…

Described is a curriculum for a pathology class offered to eleventh and twelfth graders. Included are suggestions for laboratory activities and student projects. These activities can be incorporated into other science classes. (KR)

Addresses whether or not science laboratory activities should become a thing of the past. Discusses the impact of the curriculum reforms of the 1960s and 1970s, physical restraints which cause teacher overload, rationale, and objectives of laboratory work. (RT)

Discussed are the two sides to the question of laboratory dissections. Alternatives to dissection are proposed as well as the importance of incorporating dissections in a science curriculum. (KR)

The Prime Minister's Committee on Natural Science in Education in Great Britain reported in 1918 that "...in many schools more time is spent in laboratory work than the results obtained can justify." Seventy years later this conclusion can often still be drawn. This is particularly a problem in open distance education where laboratory practicals,…