"I can feel it making my brain bigger": from a Year 8 student at Pinjarra Senior High School (SHS) halfway through the two-year Thinking Science Program. Pinjarra was a pilot school for the program in 2009/10 and a growing number of schools in Western Australia (WA) are implementing this program in Years Seven to Nine as part of the…

Describes efforts aimed at reforming physics courses for first-year engineering and science students at Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey. Discusses the establishment and working of the Physics Learning Center (PLC) and its impact on the retention and performance of students. (JRH)

Chemistry in the Community ("ChemCom") is a high-school level chemistry text developed by the American Chemical Society (ACS) designed for the college-bound student. The purpose of this study was to identify students enrolled in a university-level chemistry course designed for the nonscience major who had experienced the ChemCom…

Science curriculum evaluation studies (1963-1978) were examined to assess impact of innovative curricula compared with traditional curricula on student learning outcomes. Results suggest students in secondary school science courses scored moderately better than students in traditional courses on innovative and neutral tests and negligibly lower on…

Student outcomes were assessed by quantitatively combining results of 57 reported evaluations of three major curriculum programs in elementary school science. Thirty-two percent of the comparisons were statistically significant, favoring activity-based programs; six percent favored control groups. (DH)

Highlights a quantitative synthesis of research studies on Elementary Science Study, Science Curriculum Improvement Study, and Science A Process Approach, focusing on student performance/achievement, attitudes, process skills, and basic skills. Suggests that activities and instructional strategies from the programs be incorporated into existing…

Summarizes results of the meta-analysis of 105 research studies dealing with effects of new science curricula on student performance. Twenty-seven different new science curricula involving one or more measures of student performance were included in the analysis. Positive performance patterns were found in all new curricula examined. (JN)

This report traces the development of science education, particularly the elementary science curriculum, in Trinidad and Tobago. Problem areas are identified that have influenced science instruction and/or the lack of it. A model is presented for teacher involvement in elementary science curriculum development. Through this approach, approximately…

Reports findings of a national evaluation of the Crustal Evolution Education Project focusing on student/teacher characteristics and student achievement and attitudes. Evaluation objectives, design of evaluation, instruments and methods of data collection are included. Directions developed for center coordinators/test teachers and samples of…

Twenty-five years of research comparing student performance in NSF-funded science curricula to student performance in traditional courses was examined as part of a comprehensive synthesis of science education research. These curricula were found to be consistently more effective, suggesting that their philosophies/strategies/materials be…

This document consists of four sections. The first section includes two chapters which discuss the curriculum development projects of the 1960s and the goals of science education. The second section includes chapters which provide information about instructional strategies and systems, evaluation, the integration of science and other school…

A quantitative synthesis of research findings on the effects of three major activity-based elementary science programs developed with National Science Foundation support was conducted. Controlled evaluation studies of the Elementary Science Study (ESS), Science-A Process Approach (SAPA), or The Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) were used…

Describes the development of a series of audio-tutorial units for biological education at the junior high school level. Reports results of a comparative study between students using these units with students using a "normal" approach, based on the BSCS Yellow Version. (CS)

During 1974, materials developed by the Australian Science Education Projects (ASEP) became available in final published form. The publication of these materials was an especially important undertaking since ASEP was the first national curriculum project, in any subject area, to be developed in Australia. This report presents research into four…

Examined effects of teaching method (self-directed, group-directed, teacher-directed), academic ability, student assessment of treatment, and allowed time on achievement in three Individualized Science Instructional System (ISIS) biology minicourses. Results, among others, indicated that individualized instruction favored high-ability students and…