Space has fascinated and intrigued humans of all ages since time immemorial, and continues to do so today. The natural curiosity is engaged when looking up into the sky, notice patterns among celestial objects such as the Sun, Moon, and stars, and wonder. Scientific understanding of those patterns has progressed immensely over the span of human…

Previous research into enhancing children's educational dialogues during group work has recognised the role of teachers in modelling dialogue and guiding their students' engagement in reasoning. Whole-class plenaries also offer teachers such opportunities but the technological support of dialogue in plenaries remains relatively unexplored. The…

Lists criteria for selecting quality computer software. Describes tutorial, drill and practice, test scoring, and simulations as innovative uses of microcomputers. Establishes a need for the use of computers and courseware as learning opportunities. Defines significant vocabulary terms and concepts to promote literacy. (RT)

There are a number of ways in which the educational applications of computers can be categorized. This document focuses on the use of computers in science teaching. It differentiates between such terminology as tutor, tool, tutee, tutorial dialogue, revelatory use, conjectural use, and emancipatory use. The major portion of this paper is a…

Discusses several ways of teaching about constellations. Includes background and historical information, suggestions on visiting a planetarium, and a bibliography for sources of constellation stories, computer courseware, and constellation slides. Suggests ways of having students produce their own constellation slides. (TW)

Reported is an approach to teaching the use of Macintosh computers to sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students within the context of a simplified model of scientific research including proposal, data collection and analyses, and presentation of findings. Word processing, graphing, statistical, painting, and poster software were sequentially…

Educators working with elementary school children need to consider the impact of unstructured and structured hypermedia on the learning occurring in computer-assisted instruction. This paper discusses a case study of a collaborative group of four boys during a summer science camp. Their interactions with two different examples of hypermedia are…

Discusses some of the variables teachers must consider when using computer software in the science classroom. Describes eight commercially available computer programs that are designed to teach problem solving in science. Includes the producer's address, the grade level for which the program was written, and a critique. (TW)

This kit includes a variety of instructional materials designed to teach language arts, science, mathematics and social studies while integrating soil and water conservation concepts into the intermediate-level classroom. The activities included in the student study manual are intended to be used to: (1) introduce a topic prior to using the…