Graduates' retrospective program evaluations can provide relevant and reliable feedback on an institutions' performance in delivering quality instruction and services to its students. This descriptive survey research ascertains graduates' evaluations of science education program areas, including curriculum adequacy and relevance. Study…

This report is based on several evaluations of NSF-funded geoscience projects at Stony Brook University on Long Island, NY. The report reviews the status of K-12 geoscience education, identifying challenges posed by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the experiences of university faculty engaged in teacher preparation, state…

Reports the results of a survey designed to determine teachersO reactions to the Time, Space and Matter Program, an interdisciplinary secondary school science program which covers such fields as geology, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and mathematics. (JR)

Outlines a sociocultural perspective on program evaluation consistent with sociocultural views of knowing and learning. Perspective is characterized by rigorous use of multiple-choice tests, performance assessments, and event-based analyses; a dialectical approach to conflicting conclusions from individual assessments and between individual and…

Examines the long-term implementation of learning cycle science curricula introduced in National Science Foundation sponsored institutes delivered in 1985, 1987, and 1988. (LZ)

Explores the issue of physics laboratory work for engineering students and discusses the design, implementation, and evaluation of a laboratory program developed for first year engineering students. (DDR)

Reports on a study that examines how well middle school programs support the attainment of key scientific ideas specified in the national science standards. Identifies the typical strengths and weaknesses of these programs using research-based criteria. (Contains 88 references.) (DDR)

For 37 states in the United States, Project Wild has become an officially sanctioned, distributed and funded "environemtnal and conservation education program." For those who are striving to implement focused, sequential, learning programs, as well as those who wish to promote harmony through a non-anthropocentric world view, Project…

This paper describes a specific case study of the development of a continued evaluation program in science education. Introduced is the Audio-Tutorial Elementary Science Project (A-TESP) developed by Joseph D. Novak, which provides a model of program development, implementation, and evaluation. Three phases, characterized as the pre-developmental,…

Reports the results of a survey that assesses the breadth of implementation of environmental education in local public schools, the integration of environmental education within the existing school curriculum, and the impact environmental education has had on the school. (DDR)

The last decade has seen the development of a number of computer-based interactive physics programs at the university level. Set in a cognitive apprenticeship framework, such programs view the instructor as a mentor, and the essential learning constructed in a collaborative process. It is expected that such programs, grounded as they are in…

Principals can improve programs by becoming science advocates (to teachers, students, and parents), constructing and pushing a science curriculum plan, ensuring annual funds for science materials, providing needed inservice experiences, monitoring the program, and handling likely problems. A 73-item checklist is provided for evaluating current…

This study evaluated the impact of the Australian Science Education Project (ASEP) which, during 1969-1974, produced learning materials for secondary school science courses. The extent to which ASEP materials had been adopted and used by secondary schools, variation in adoption and use between states and factors associated with this variation,…

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)

Water pollution curriculum units of four environmental secondary science programs in Britain, Germany, Israel, and the United States are examined. Comparisons reveal the use of quite different approaches in central topic selection, use of the laboratory and other media, controversial issues, and teacher-student roles. (CS)