This study involved 458 ninth-grade students from two different Arab middle schools in Israel. Half of the students learned science using project-based learning strategies and the other half learned using traditional methods (non-project-based). The classes were heterogeneous regarding their achievements in the sciences. The adapted questionnaire…

The average American produces around 1,600 pounds of garbage every year, and it is estimated that 50 percent of that waste is material that could be composted (Clean Air Council, 2012). Instead, most is sent to landfills and incinerators. In technology and engineering education, a great deal of time is spent in talking, teaching, and thinking…

Describes a study designed to determine whether the Biology Critical Thinking (BCT) project (which incorporates activities for developing specific critical thinking skills into the biology curriculum) enhances critical thinking skills and how it affects students' biological knowledge and classroom learning environment. Results indicate that BCT…

It is well documented that there is a disproportionate number of males pursuing engineering and technology careers when compared to their female counterparts (Milgram, 2011). Some recent articles have proposed methods to recruit more females into technology education (Milgram, 2011; Zywno, Gilbride, Hiscodes, Waalen, and Kennedy, 1999). However,…

This article presents a constructionist approach to introducing technology, in particular robotics, in the early childhood classroom. The authors demonstrate how this approach is well suited, since the four basic tenets of constructionism have a long-standing tradition in early childhood education: (a) learning by designing meaningful projects to…

Presents basic guidelines for classroom control and discipline for teachers using new science programs that encourage independent study and hands-on activities. (MA)

The Learning Environment Inventory (LEI) was administered to tenth-grade biology classes (N=572) in urban and kibbutz district schools in Israel. Findings indicated that seven out of nine scales of the LEI yield significant differences in scores for urban and kibbutz samples indicating a more positive learning climate in the kibbutz. (Author/DS)

Presented are abstracts and abstractors' analyses of 10 studies related to science instruction and 3 studies related to science curriculum. Analyses in the first section (instruction) are on studies of: the influence of instructional structure and focus of control on achievement; effects of individualized audio-tutorial and frontal…

This Unified Sciences and Mathematics for Elementary Schools (USMES) unit challenges students to change their classroom to make it a better place to live and study. The challenge is general enough to apply to many problem-solving situations in mathematics, science, social science, and language arts at any elementary school level (grades 1-8). The…

This Unified Sciences and Mathematics for Elementary Schools (USMES) unit challenges students to find ways of developing and maintaining a well-run classroom. The challenge is general enough to apply to many problem-solving situations in mathematics, science, social science, and language arts at any elementary school level (grades 1-8). The…