McMaster University School of Medicine admits students who may not have had an extensive education in physics, chemistry, and biology. The objectives and teaching methods of a preliminary course once offered to those students and now incorporated into the M.D. program are described. (Editor/LBH)

Provides details of a project designed to produce one-minute films that paint a favorable picture of the applications of science being taught at a local primary or secondary school. Goals include increasing student interest. (DDR)

Explains a component of an introductory genetics course that exposes students to bioethical issues and the social responsibilities of scientists. Students engage in discussion in an interdisciplinary format. (DDR)

Argues against a type of program evaluation of undergraduate institutions that assumes students are products. Proposes that if students are products, then students are raw materials. Discusses the philosophical problems of considering students as raw materials. (DDR)

Explains the procedures used in an experiment that reinforces the universality of the concepts of saturation using the binding of the ligand aspartame to the protein receptor that determines taste. Illustrates the hyperbolic nature of protein binding. (DDR)

Presents and recommends the rationale for a primary science curriculum characterized by reduced content, breadth and balance, and a focus on investigative activities. Contains 128 references. (DDR)

Presents an historical analysis of the work concept with particular emphasis given to the contributions of John Smeaton and Daniel Bernoulli. Emphasizes the work done by both applied and resisting forces. Contains 23 references. (DDR)

Describes a nontraditional, integrated science offering, the goal of which was to use acknowledged benchmarks for a transformed curriculum. Includes content outline, laboratory topics, teaching principles, student expectations, relevance of the discipline, and assessment. Specific suggestions for the transition include providing written materials…

Presents a lesson plan for teaching abstract science concepts to gifted middle school students. The lesson integrates a physical education component into science instruction to reinforce the abstract notion that electrons emit energy in the form of visible light. (CR)

Presents a laboratory in which students are provided with cultures of three bacterial strains. Using the results, students will determine which of the strains corresponds to a mutant lacking a particular functional gene. (DDR)

Outlines alternative approaches to the teaching of difficult concepts in A-level biology which may help student learning by making abstract ideas more concrete and accessible. Examples include models, posters, and poems for illustrating meiosis, mitosis, genetic mutations, and protein synthesis. (DDR)

Addresses the question of what bearing the nature of educational theories has on their application to practice and focuses on the application of normative goal-directed theories of science education. Contains 40 references. (DDR)

In response to an article in the same issue by Norris and Kvernbekk, argues that the theory of Driver and associates, elaborated upon in the three articles which form the basis for their analysis, is not a normative goal-directed theory. (DDR)

Explores the potential relationship of teaching and total quality management (TQM) and the subsequent benefits for individual medical teachers. Addresses issues such as defining teaching processes and quality teaching, responding to customers' needs, assessing current teaching practices, and improving one's own teaching. Contains 18 references.…

Responds to R.G. Bing-You's argument for the application of total quality management (TQM) techniques to medical teaching. Argues that attempts to apply TQM to medical education are fundamentally flawed because medical education is not an intrinsically commercial transition. (DDR)