Central to evolution is the concept of a common ancestry from which all life has emerged over immense time scales, but learning and teaching temporal aspects of evolution remain challenging. This study investigated students' interpretation of evolutionary time when engaging with a multi-touch tabletop application called DeepTree, a dynamic…

Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and SRI International conducted an independent study of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) KIDS "Play & Learn Science" app, which includes in-app and direct hands-on science explorations for children ages 3 to 6 and their parents. This study explored the impact of the PBS KIDS "Play…

Describes: (1) laboratory information science in the clinical chemistry curriculum; (2) testing Boyle's Law, a context for statistical methods in undergraduate laboratories; (3) acquiring chemical concepts using microcomputers as tutees; and (4) using Data Interchange Format files for Apple microcomputers. Includes feedback from a previous article…

Points out that the effectiveness of microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL) activities will be examined. Also indicates that a study is being conducted to assess children's and college students' mental models of heat and temperature and to determine how these models change when students learn about heat through MBLs. (JN)

A major goal of science education is to turn novices (students) into experts (scientists or science literates) with a minimum amount of pain, effort, and time. However, transfer of biology knowledge from instructor to student usually results in a loss of the rich interconnections that an expert has. The papers in this set describe efforts to…

This study describes efforts to apply principles of systematic knowledge representation (concept mapping and computer-based semantic networking techniques) to the domain of ecology. A set of 24 relationships and modifiers is presented that seem sufficient for describing all ecological relationships discussed in an introductory course. Many of…

A "Xenograde system" is an imaginary science system. As an imaginary science, it contains a set of concepts and principles which mimic many of the concepts and principles found in physics and other physical sciences. Xenograde is a highly complex closed system which simulates the movement of satellites orbiting a nucleus and some small particles…

Discusses the use of the Bank Street Laboratory sound probe in activities focusing on various aspects of sound. Also examines what students were learning during the activities (such as students understanding what is meant by the pitch of a tone). (JN)

This paper analyzes the hardware and software features that would be desirable in a computer-based semantic network system for representing biology knowledge. It then describes in detail a prototype network of molecular biology knowledge that has been developed using Filevision software and a Macintosh computer. The prototype contains about 100…

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Horizons Committee met in Iowa City (Iowa) before the 1982 Curriculum Update Conference. The committee was charged with planning a new future of science education. The thinking of the members of the Horizons Committee provided the framework for the 1982 conference. These proceedings represent a…