Turkey has a central educational system in which all of the programs are designed by the Ministry of National Education and distributed to the implementing institutions. As a part of this system, the textbooks written by different writers need to be approved by the commission called Talim Terbiye Kurulu, and these approved books are chosen as…

This article is concerned with the meaning and legitimacy of the view that the secondary science curriculum can be given a vocational emphasis, and with a current attempt to create such a curriculum. Although this perspective on the science curriculum has a long history, in recent decades it has received little attention. This article examines…

The inability to write scientific papers effectively remains a problem for many college students. To identify pedagogical constructs that help undergraduates write well in scientific formats, we evaluated the effect of the number and type of college composition courses previously taken, science writing experience, and tutorial services. In our…

Nonscience majors often come into science courses with misconceptions about the nature of science. As part of an integrative mathematics and science course, we have structured a continued dialogue regarding the nature of science through inquiry-based classroom activities and an extended investigation.

A model for a shared nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) facility between a private university and two local community colleges is presented. The discussion of the components required for the shared facility, modes of data distribution, and overall effect on the curriculum is presented.

Biotechnology is a cutting edge science/technology which impacts the community in many ways. For this and other reasons, it is important we encourage teachers to include biotechnology in the science curriculum. First, however, we need to know what hinders and encourages teachers. We surveyed the views of 88 high school science teachers. The …

The reform of curriculum and assessment in the 14-19 age range in England seeks to address the failure of schools to engage substantial cohorts of pupils, as measured by truancy rates, disruption of lessons and GCSE pass rates. The new statutory orders for Science are motivated in part by similar concerns. Four schools, already in partnership for…

A previous study showed that elementary teaching majors enrolled in an inquiry-based physical science course developed chemistry content knowledge comparable to that of students enrolled in traditional lecture-based courses. This current study compares the views of these elementary teaching majors regarding how chemistry is taught and learned to…

Following the introduction of a National Curriculum for Science, all secondary science teachers in England need to be prepared to teach all aspects of a broad and balanced science curriculum. This is the second paper in which we explore science student teachers' subject knowledge development during a one-year postgraduate teacher preparation…

This study investigated the relationship between readability of 73 text-only multiple-choice questions from Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003 and performance of two groups of South African learners: those with limited English-language proficiency (learners attending African schools) and those with better…

Many educators and policy makers argue that science literacy and numeracy are vital skills for successfully participating in the economy of this century. But how do educators increase the levels of scientific literacy, let alone make science a subject for all students, when the subject matter itself has been keeping students away? In this article,…

The goal of this mini-curriculum is for students to discover what drinking water really is. Five units are designed to be presented as a lecture and to allow 30 to 40 students to perform every procedure, each testing their own tap water sample. Games are provided in each section to reinforce the concepts presented in each unit. Unit 1 introduces…

This curriculum module is designed to provide teachers with classroom activities that promote an understanding of environmental issues such as conservation, preservation, ecology, resource management, solid waste management, and recycling. The activities enable teachers, students in grades 4 through 8, and families to begin thinking about these…

The project on Scope Sequence and Coordination of Secondary School Science (SS&C) was initiated by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and recommends that all students study science every year and advocates carefully sequenced, well-coordinated instruction in biology, chemistry, earth/space science, and physics. This document…

The study reported in this paper examined a group of science teachers' beliefs about the implementation of controversial social/technical issues in the extant science curriculum. Beliefs were measured by a 44-item Likert type instrument. Teachers were asked to elucidate their ideas relating to the teaching of social issues in areas such as support…