Concept map activities often lack a subsequent revision step that facilitates knowledge integration. This study compares two collaborative critique activities using a Knowledge Integration Map (KIM), a form of concept map. Four classes of high school biology students (n?=?81) using an online inquiry-based learning unit on evolution were assigned…

Current research indicates that student engagement in scientific argumentation can foster a better understanding of the concepts and the processes of science. Yet opportunities for students to participate in authentic argumentation inside the science classroom are rare. There also is little known about science teachers' understandings of…

Discusses attitudes seemingly engendered by practices in science teaching. Comments on explanations of scientific phenomena which appear in recent science texts as over-simplified and thus impede the child's imagination. (Author/EB)

Reported is a study to examine whether teachers are able to perceive accurately the way students feel about science. The study investigated the relationships between the teachers' observations and the students' own reported feelings about their interest, appreciation, attitude and values as related toward science. Two affective-domain instruments…

Discusses the causes and effects of conceptual errors inadvertently introduced and nurtured by scientists, teachers, and textbook writers. Cites ways to prevent the communication breakdowns that prevent the learning of science. (RT)