This classroom study examined the role of low-achieving students' self-regulated learning (SRL) behaviors and their teacher's scaffolding of SRL while using a Web-based water quality simulation environment to learn about ecological systems. Forty-nine 11th and 12th grade students learned about ecology and the effects of land use on water quality…

Changes in 70 teachers' confidence, attitudes and science understanding were tested before and after a major in-service programme. Attitudes were assessed using a 49-item Likert-scale test that probed attitudes to practical science teaching and in-service training. Multi-choice and open-ended questions measured understanding of electricity;…

In August 2000 the New Zealand Minister of Education announced, as part of a broader national assessment strategy, the development of exemplars of pupils' work at curriculum levels 1-5. The strategy is based on the conviction that assessment must make a difference to pupil learning. A team of primary science educators from across New Zealand…

An investigation is described that would be suitable for A-level or first year degree Biology or Environmental Science students. Crop plants were grown in different concentrations of lead chloride and lead nitrate. French beans, carrots and Brussels sprouts were all inhibited at concentrations over 0.01 mol dm[superscript -3] showing stunted root…

While learning and teaching difficulties in genetics have been abundantly explored and described, there has been less focus on the development and field-testing of strategies to address them. To inform the design of such a strategy a review study, focus group interviews with teachers, a case study of a traditional series of genetics lessons,…

The purpose of this study was to track the development of fifth-graders' reading and writing skills in the context of ecosystems science content using an action research design. A collection of students' work, a researcher journal, video-taped class sessions, student science journals and a weekly book choice checklist were used as data sources.…

The grade three curriculum set out by the British Columbia Ministry of Education has four categories for science: Processes of Science, Life Science, Physical Science, and Earth and Space Science. Within each of these categories there are numerous topics to teach. For example, the physical science curriculum requires students to learn about…

There is substantial evidence that scientific teaching in the sciences, i.e. teaching that employs instructional strategies that encourage undergraduates to become actively engaged in their own learning, can produce levels of understanding, retention and transfer of knowledge that are greater than those resulting from traditional lecture/lab…

This study was conducted in a reform-based mathematics and science teacher education program in the USA, the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation (MCTP). The goal of the undergraduate program was to prepare upper elementary/middle level specialists in mathematics and science. One significant aspect of the MCTP was the expectation that…

The goal of this study is to analyze the images of science and scientists in science biographies written for children. We examined 12 biographies of historic and contemporary scientists written for primary/middle school children in relation to three dimensions: characteristics of scientists, nature and process of scientific knowledge, and social…

The following paper is intended as an exercise in "friendly criticism" of one of Harvey Siegel's and Mike Smith's ("Knowing, Believing and Understanding", this volume). I'm in substantial sympathy with the general thrust of their paper and my remarks merely provide some criticism of their discussion's conceptual coherence and clarity and a…

The learning difficulties for new entrant chemistry students from a multi-national, regional, tertiary education institution in the South Pacific were investigated using a purpose-designed diagnostic instrument. The instrument contained 25 items distributed across three themes: scientific reasoning, numeracy and scientific language literacy. The…

Today, more than at any other time in human history, biologists are or should be concerned about the morality of biological research and newly developed technologies. Two questions confront any scientist or science student concerned about morality and the life sciences. Is there some theoretical framework that might be used to assist in deciding…

This study examined the effect of a hypermedia-enhanced problem-based learning environment in astronomy on sixth-graders' science knowledge, attitude toward learning science, and motivation toward learning. It was found that the students had significantly increased their science knowledge from pretest to post test and also retained much of what…

A time of upheaval and innovation, the American Colonial Period (1600-1775) was marked by New World settlers' struggles to adapt to a life that lacked anything familiar or prefabricated. The period provides a rich opportunity to study the contributions of the colonists across multiple disciplines. In the fall of 2003, a team of eighth-grade…