Analyzes selected applications of hypermedia technology in science teacher education, mathematics problem solving, and science testing. Highlights include advantages for preservice teachers; anchoring instruction for mathematics problem solving in video-based macrocontexts; and increases student achievement levels on science tests. (LRW)

Describes several recent trends in elementary education involving enrollment, the number of schools, pupil-teacher ratios, minority children, reading, international comparisons of eighth graders, the Internet, and finances. (PKP)

The type of staff development necessary to improve student achievement is not the type of in-service where elementary teachers just attend a workshop to learn a specific activity to be used when teaching a particular concept. Rather, a comprehensive instructional strategy is the one designed to enhance student comprehension and mastery for…

The Rural Alliance for Improving Science Education (RAISE), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is a program that partners Oklahoma State University with three public school districts in Oklahoma. This program enables Oklahoma State University science graduate students to serve as resources in developing and teaching science…

The Swedish school system comprises: (1) Pre-primary school (Forskola), typical age 1-5; (2) Preschool class in the compulsory school (Grundskola) typical age 6 (participation voluntary); (3) Compulsory school, typical age 7-16, grades 1-9, and (4) Upper secondary school, 17 programmes (4 mainly academic, 13 vocational), typical age 16-19, grades…

The National Science Concept Learning Study represented one of the largest and the most extensive surveys of its kind undertaken in Taiwan in recent years. A total of 36,093 students from the sixth, eighth, ninth, and eleventh grades participated in the main study. This paper provides the background information about the sampling and booklet…

This paper reports a causal-comparative study of science anxiety among Form Four students in Penang. The Wynstra's (1991) Science Anxiety Inventory (SAI), which consists of six factors (i.e., danger anxiety, science test anxiety, math and problem-solving anxiety, squeamish anxiety, performance anxiety, and science classroom anxiety), was…

Background: A critical issue in academic assessment is the effect of children's language and culture on their measured performance. Research on this topic has rarely focused on science education, because science is commonly (though erroneously) assumed to be "culture free." Students' scientific understandings are influenced by the cultural values,…

The difficulty of 44 items from the life sciences subscale of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1985-86 science assessment was analyzed in terms of item attributes and science educators' judgments of difficulty. The attributes included ratings of various characteristics of the items' text and option set, the items' cognitive…

A recently completed landmark study of mathematics and science education in more than 40 countries gathered information that can help address questions about why students in one country do better than students in another. Results from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS) will be released beginning in the fall of 1996…

In the last few years, numerous reports have pointed to the overall lower achievement of American students in science, particularly in the physical sciences, when compared to American students of the last two decades and to students from other countries. While there is reason to believe that American elementary school children are taught less…

This report describes the June 1992 assessment of the Biologie 200 curriculum in schools in Manitoba, Canada. It contains a description and analysis of the test results and the teacher survey. The report also includes recommendations on ways to improve the Biologie 200 curriculum and how it is taught in the French Immersion program and…

The 32 tests cited in this bibliography are used to assess students' scientific achievement and knowledge. Many of the tests described focus solely on biology; some cover broader ares of science and include questions measuring knowledge of a biological science. These tests are primarily designed for grades seven and above, including adult-level.…

Most of the 30 tests cited in this bibliography are those of the American Chemical Society. Subjects covered include physical chemistry, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, analytical chemistry, and other specialized areas. The tests are designed only for advanced high school, and both bachelor/graduate degree levels of college students. This…

The use of paper and pencil, videotape recordings, and microcomputers in student testing provide three very different views of student achievement. Paper and pencil tests can record how students compose tests and documents, and how they critique documents or performances. Video recordings can record how students explain ideas, answer questions,…