Junior level secondary students (n=500) in Botswana and Lesotho responded to a questionnaire to paint a picture of student perceptions of science and technology. The attitudes of the students toward the two subjects and the impact they have had on everyday life were congruent with the philosophical goals of the science and technology syllabuses of…

Considers domain-specific design specifications in the process of designing teaching materials for learning problem solving in technology education in order to raise learning outcomes with these materials. Focuses on a construction problem (open-ended) and an explanation problem (constrained). Compares these newly-designed teaching materials with…

Contends that chemical education proposals for changing the conception of chemistry literacy should include making explicit the relationship between chemistry as science and chemistry as technology. Illustrates the importance of distinguishing between scientific and technological activities by explaining the events and processes that are…

Examination of senior secondary and tertiary level chemistry students' descriptions of their mental models for chemical bonding revealed prevalent alternative conceptions. Some 20 alternative conceptions were revealed, the most common being belief that continuous ionic or metallic lattices were molecular in nature, and confusion over ionic size…

The ideas of Year I undergraduate biology students about the consequences, causes, and cures of the 'greenhouse effect' was determined using a closed-form questionnaire, and results were compared with a parallel study undertaken nearly 10 years ago. Many of the students in the present survey were unaware of the potential effect of global warming…

Grade 10 students in Singapore find qualitative analysis one of the more difficult topics in their external examinations. Fifty-one grade 10 students from three schools were interviewed to investigate their perceptions about learning qualitative analysis. The results showed that students found qualitative analysis tedious and difficult to…

Explores views held by pre-service and in-service teachers regarding the nature of science and technology, particularly the characteristics of science and technology, the aim of science and scientific research, the characteristics of scientific knowledge and scientific theories, and the relationship between science and technology. (Author/MM)

This pilot study of a project involving the design and making of a moisture sensor indicated that science knowledge developed through science lessons could not be used in technology lessons. This is argued to be because knowledge is constructed in the various contexts and hence not generalizable. Implications for science and technology teaching…

Analyzes curricular implications regarding theoretical versus applicative preferences of students (n=119) studying a scientific-technological subject. A major conclusion relating to the curriculum designers and implementors was that even students who have difficulties with theoretical subjects stand a chance of coping with the demands of the…

Reports on gender differences in the perceptions of General Certificate of Secondary Education and A level pupils toward technology-based courses. The study involving 90 male and 94 female pupils revealed that technology is perceived as being similar to science subjects rather than to craft subjects and both group's perceptions of technology are…

This case study investigated gender-based differences in classroom participation through examining teacher-student interactions between a female biology teacher and two groups of middle school students, namely high achievers and low achievers. The female teacher used a questioning-orientated instructional strategy as her major teaching style which…

Previous research has shown that students often have multiple conceptions within any particular topic area in science, and these conceptions are usually strongly linked to specific problem situations or contexts. Investigates the nature of any possible relationship between these conceptions. (Author/MM)

Describes an investigation of students' problem-solving strategies as seventh-grade students (n=10) attempted to design a solution to a technological problem. Concludes that novice designers use highly iterative rather than linear strategies, develop their ideas using three-dimensional materials rather than two-dimensional sketches, and develop…

Investigated features of the classroom- and school-level psychological learning environments in some secondary schools in Ondo State, Nigeria. It was found that age of a school has no effect on classroom- and school-level psychosocial learning environments. The presumed superiority of old schools over new schools in the provision of favorable…

Focuses on a curriculum-development project involving a team of teachers and industrial technologists in the creation of lesson materials for secondary school science classes in Swaziland. Contains 20 references. (DDR)