This book presents information, activities, and paper models related to aviation. Most of the models and activities included use a one page, single concept format. All models and activities are designed to reinforce, clarify, or expand on a concept, easily and quickly. A list of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Center education…

This study investigated the effect of three specific hands-on teaching strategies on the attainment and alteration of preservice elementary teachers' conceptions about earth-sun-moon relationships. The subjects (n=76) were enrolled in an elementary school science methods course. The descriptive nature of this study explored: (1) the effect of two…

The substantial interest exhibited in the last decade in the identification of students' misconceptions of a wide range of scientific concepts has not extended to identification of students' misconceptions of the nature of science itself. This study examined the attitudes of 32 secondary school students, each from Canada, the United States, and…

A number of strategies, informed by science education research, have been identified to assist the understanding and communication of difficult concepts in science. A teacher's craft lies in creating learning experiences that facilitate concept development and challenge misconceptions from which students actively build, modify, and extend their…

National biology reforms often define evolution as the unifying concept in biology. However, few inservice teachers have an understanding of this role. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a course sequence in evolution designed for inservice biology teachers on their conceptions of the role of evolution in biology.…

At Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) in New Jersey, an honors philosophy course was developed which taught mathematics and science concepts independent of computational skill. The course required that students complete a weekly writing assignment designed as a continuous refinement of logical reasoning development. This refinement was…

One area explored in the second (in-depth) phase of the Learning in Science Project was "children's science," defined as views of the world and the meanings for words that children have and bring with them to science lessons. The investigation reported focuses on students' thinking regarding their views on gravity. Students (N=42) were…

This unit, developed by the Third World Science Project, is designed to add a multicultural element to existing science syllabi (for students aged 11-16) in the United Kingdom. The project seeks to develop an appreciation of the: boundless fascination of the natural world; knowledge, skills, and expertise possessed by men/women everywhere;…

This paper aims to clarify and describe the process of change in learners' conceptual understanding of natural phenomena. It begins by reviewing the existing literature on models of conceptual change and on children's conceptions in a number of selected topic areas. Strategies for exploring and developing children's ideas in these areas have also…

This ERIC Digest describes the parameters of misconception research as it relates to the learning of science and highlights some of its implications for the teaching of science in the elementary school. The document reviews terminology associated with misconception research, identifies common characteristics of misconceptions, and specifies…

An analysis of science teacher's knowledge of specific biology and physics topics and the effects of this knowledge on their planning for instruction and on simulated teaching are discussed in this report. Six experienced secondary school teachers participated in the study. Each teacher's knowledge of a biology topic and a physics topic was…

Many feel that secondary school graduates are not prepared to compete in a world of rapidly expanding technology. High school and college students in the United States often prefer fantasy to science. This book offers a strategy for overcoming student apathy toward the physical sciences by harnessing the power of the cinema. In it, ten popular…

The Learning in Science Project investigated the proportion of students at different ages who considered a horse, person, dolphin, worm, and spider to be animals. Although scientists would agree that they are indeed animals, findings indicate that many students of varying ages did not consider them to be animals; similar findings were reported for…

Two booklets were developed by the Learning in Science Project (Primary)--LISP(P)--to help teachers adopt an approach to primary science teaching which would enhance children's understanding of floating and sinking. Both booklets were designed to enable teachers to reconceptualize their teaching task from activity-driven, didactic teaching to…

This report presents some of the results of two national surveys which assessed the performance of 13-year-old students in science. It includes an outline of the assessment framework; some of the questions which were written to match it; a description of how well, and how differently, students responded to the questions; and suggests how the…