Students use their preschool experiences to form personal theories about the world and rarely correct misconceptions even when new information is presented. This article describes an elementary science teacher's efforts to help fifth and sixth graders revise personal electricity theories, based on experimentation. There is no simple way to…

Investigates South African teachers as a possible source of pupils' erroneous ideas about respiration. The views of 136 teachers were elicited by means of an analysis of how teachers marked an essay containing errors commonly found among year-12 students. Teacher responses suggest that many of them as well might have erroneous ideas. (PR)

Data were collected via semistructured interviews on female college students views about the natural world. Fundamental beliefs are presented as a concept map and characterized by bipolar descriptive codes. The most intriguing observation of the study was science's apparent lack of influence on students' beliefs about nature even though these…

Whereas the 19th-century educational contract was based on machine- and factory-driven production goals, the educational covenant for the 21st century will be radically different. To overcome their Newtonian mindset and discover meaningful foundations, educational leaders must reinvent their institutions and themselves. Leadership metaphors should…

Adolescents (n=151-158), adults (n=18), and scientists (n=5) were involved in two studies conducted to identify concepts of heat energy and temperature held by each of the participants and investigate the impact of a middle school science curriculum designed to help students understand everyday thermal events. Results indicate that each group had…

Describes the reordering of a ninth-grade physics course that aimed at making core concepts clear to the students while at the same time developing students' skills and depth of understanding. Discusses its benefits and associated problems. (JRH)

Analyzes the cognitive processes and kinds of knowledge needed to work in a scientific domain like physics. Discusses the processes needed to interpret scientific concepts, uses of quantitative and qualitative descriptions, hierarchical ways of organizing scientific knowledge, and processes facilitating problem solving. Describes the use of these…

Describes the activities of the Physics Teachers Action Research Group in which college physics teachers work together in planning, revising, and evaluating student projects that foster greater conceptual understanding and address student misconceptions. Presents the details of a project in which students were asked to build an accelerometer. (JRH)

Describes an activity that uses a candle, a scale, and an elevator to demonstrate the concept of weightlessness in space, showing that astronauts are not truly weightless. Activity includes an exploration phase, a concept introduction phase, and a concept application phase. Provides guidelines and safety measures for conducting the activity. (JW)

Presents a lesson plan that uses information about traditional African iron-smelting to highlight the scientific contributions of non-European cultures. Includes a laboratory activity on the reduction of metal oxides with a multicultural perspective that helps students grasp some of the chemistry concepts involved in smelting. (JRH)

Presents an activity that involves construction of a Native American drill to teach about technology, simple and compound machines, mechanical advantage, and force and area. Introduces students to non-Western technological innovations. (JRH)

Discusses simple activities with familiar materials to help children feel at home with chemistry and what the term "chemical" means. (PR)

Describes an activity where students with dirty hands and students with clean hands handle boiled potatoes to observe and compare the growth of mold on the potatoes. (PR)

Discusses Newton's idea of predicting very high temperatures of objects by observing the time needed for the object to cool to some standard reference temperature. This article discusses experimental deviations from this idea and provides explanations for the observed results. (MVL)