Teaching through inquiry can take many forms with most descriptions of inquiry emphasizing investigations. Though inquiry-based teaching strategies typically engage students in investigations, it is not the physical activity that defines inquiry. Teaching through inquiry is distinguished by its emphasis on a questioning attitude, gathering data,…

This digest presents instructional strategies to accommodate visually impaired students in science classrooms and provides classroom examples for physical science, chemistry, and biology courses. The article concludes that prospective science teachers must become skilled in using resource materials and adaptive technologies that facilitate the…

Learning science through design offers students the opportunity to engage in real-life problems from an interdisciplinary perspective. This ERIC Digest explains the power of "design" as a teaching tool, what it brings to teaching, and what learning through design entails. (YDS)

Educators are constantly seeking new ways to capture the attention of students and create active learning environments where minds are engaged and students are nurtured. The full potential of the Internet as a tool for learning is still being explored. This digest offers some examples of ways in which the Internet can be used as a tool for…

This digest summarizes research on teaching special needs students relative to the concerns of K-12 science teachers. Guidelines for instituting inclusive policies and practices are presented. Strategies for preparing science classroom materials and adapting teaching methods for students with physical and learning disabilities are also discussed,…

This digest provides an overview of several meta-analysis studies which focused on various aspects of science instruction. These studies examined: productive factors in science learning for grades 6 through 12; quality and quantity of instruction; effects of various teaching strategies on science achievement; instructional systems in science…

Content-based ESL is a method that integrated English-as-a-second-language instruction with subject-matter instruction. The technique not only focuses on learning a second language, but on using that language as a medium to learn mathematics, science, social studies, and other academic subjects. Although this approach has been used for many years…

This digest provides information about "Research Within Reach: Science Education. A Research-Guided Response to the Concerns of Educators," part of a series produced by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory, Inc., Charleston, West Virginia. (Previous volumes in the series focused on reading, elementary mathematics, oral and written…

The first science education digest for 1985 focused on data obtained by use of meta-analysis techniques on research studies of science instruction. Instruction seldom takes place without instructional materials, so this second digest is a companion one containing a discussion of science education research on instructional materials. Data are shown…

This digest addresses cognitive learning with respect to outside-the-classroom instruction at the elementary school level. It notes that affective, not cognitive, learning has traditionally been the primary objective of field instruction at all K-12 levels. Therefore, most educational research in field instruction has been mainly non-cognitive in…

This digest addresses the needs of homeschooling parents teaching science. National and state science standards documents are recommended for deciding what students need to know and should be able to do at different age levels. Sources of science lessons and activities are provided. Science reference materials such as books, magazines, and…

This digest provides examples of measures well suited for assessing English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students. Alternative assessment is particularly useful with ESL students because it asks students to show what they can integrate and produce, not simply recall and reproduce. Alternative assessment includes varied measures adaptable for…

Cognitive learning related to the environment has typically been subsumed as a part of instruction in the more traditional areas of the secondary school curriculum, in particular in science and/or social studies classes. This digest contains a review of a number of studies dealing with cognitive learning in the environment, investigating the…

The digest summarizes major characteristics of American Indian student needs in the disciplines of science and math and offers constructive ways in which students may be motivated for greater achievement. Motivational, attitudinal, and behavioral factors contributing to avoidance of science and math by American Indian students are identified:…

New teaching methods and curricula that show promise in their ability to provide limited English proficient (LEP) students with a good education in both science and English are discussed and illustrated. Discriminatory practice has led to the clustering of LEP students into low ability tracks without consideration of their actual abilities and…