Examines the relative effectiveness of guided versus unguided computer-based instruction with regard to regular instruction in improving content knowledge and process skills among students with low and high chemistry achievement levels. The effectiveness of computer-based instruction increases when learning is supported by teacher-directed…

Describes a summer research program at James Madison University targeting deaf and hard-of-hearing students and teachers participating in and collaborating on chemistry research with hearing students and teachers. (Contains 18 references.) (YDS)

Reports on a first-year laboratory sequence known as the Interdisciplinary Laboratory (ID Lab) introduced at Harvey Mudd College. The course seeks to illustrate commonality of investigative methods and laboratory techniques in biology, chemistry, and physics and introduce discipline-specific principles. Provides details of the experiments…

Explains the advantages of using the World Wide Web as an educational tool and describes the Natural Science Pages project which is a teaching module involving Internet access and Web use and aiming to improve student achievement. (Contains 13 references.) (YDS)

Investigates parents' and students' view of science education and its success. Uses focus groups for data collection, which provides an environment for the challenge of different participant views. Includes recommendations for the improvement of schools science. (Contains 12 references.) (Author/YDS)

Describes the development of three graduate level biochemistry courses targeting high school science teachers. Uses distributed resources and points out the lack of certainty on such freely available distributed resources. (Author/YDS)

Introduces the analysis of a river as an excellent way to teach geochemical techniques because of the relative ease of sample collection and speed of sample analysis. Focuses on the potential sources of sample contamination during sampling, filtering, and bottle cleaning processes, and reviews methods to reduce and detect contamination. Includes…

Provides an application of quantitative chemistry concepts in the context of motor vehicle emissions. Shows how carbon dioxide emissions from cars may be reduced by up to 25% by reducing motorway speeds from 70-75 mph to 60 mph. (Author/MM)

Discusses an alternate path to teaching introductory stoichiometry based on research findings. The recommendation is to use problems that can be solved easily by rapid mental calculation as well as by pure logic. (AIM)

Presents the first of three invited keynote lectures from the 1995 conference of the New England Association of Chemistry Teachers. Discusses the relevance of the history of chemistry to the teaching of chemistry. Contains 27 references. (DDR)

Focuses on the history of the organization of chemical principles in chemistry textbooks. Describes a higher-order organizing principle, based in chemical logic and understanding, from which topics and order of presentation are derived. Provides an example of a biochemistry curriculum developed using this organizing principle. (DDR)

Focuses on the effects of the lack of coordination in the teaching of introductory subjects in chemistry, biology, and physics. Argues that some of the more interesting topics in these fields lie on the border with another field. For example, biochemistry topics may be more interesting to students than chemistry or biology topics. (DDR)

Describes a variation of typical introductory chemistry stoichiometry experiments in which the reaction is run in a modified 20-ounce plastic soda bottle. (WRM)

Discusses the chemistry of marine ecosystems, particularly with regard to the Hawaiian islands. Contains 31 references. (WRM)

Reports on a technique for illustrating the dependence of the rate of reaction on the concentration of the reactants and for determining the order of reaction with respect to each reactant, the overall order of reaction, the reaction rate constant, and the half-life. (WRM)