This study investigated the effect of informational, drill, and game format computer-assisted instruction (CAI) on the achievement, retention, and attitude toward instruction of sixth-grade science students (N=37). An informational CAI lesson on Halley's Comet was administered to three randomly selected groups of sixth-grade students. A CAI drill…

This paper describes the development and implementation of a project to prepare science support teachers to work in four junior high schools in Toledo, Ohio. The project was collaboratively developed by the Institute for Research on Teaching at Michigan State University, the Toledo school district, and the American Federation of Teachers. The…

This paper explores a teacher's perspective of what successful science instruction is and how these perspectives influence classroom instruction. The data sources for this study include 35 classroom observations and approximately 25 hours of interviews collected over a period of 2 years of a single high school chemistry teacher. During class,…

Prepared by energy experts and educators to introduce middle school and high school students to natural gas and its role in our society, this kit is designed to be incorporated into existing science and social studies curricula. The materials and activities focus on the origin, discovery, production, delivery, and use of natural gas. The role of…

The projection of shadows task developed by Inhelder and Piaget was used to identify error patterns and solution strategies used by diverse populations in a sequence of proportion tasks. In Study A, two group tests were administered to 607 students from science and mathematics classes in grades 9 and 10. A sub-sample of 69 students was involved in…

The Science Teacher Inventory of Need (STIN) is an 83-item instrument which assesses science teachers' perceptions of their professional needs. Items on the STIN are organized under seven categories: (1) specifying objectives for science instruction; (2) diagnosing and evaluating learners for science instruction; (3) planning science instruction;…

The Massachusetts Board of Education recently adopted a 5-year plan to assist Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in the curriculum areas of reading, writing, arithmetic, science, and computer literacy. However, reduction in funds and staff at the LEA level has decreased the ability of local programs to implement marketing and assistance. This manual,…

This manual presents a design for teaching science principles and mathematics concepts through a sequence of activities concentrating on weather, solar food dryers, and nutrition. Part I focuses on the effect of solar energy on air and water, examining the concepts of evaporation, condensation, radiation, conduction, and convection. These concepts…

Several central ideas emerging from a systematic approach to teaching problem-solving in the quantitative sciences (chemistry, physics, engineering) are discussed. Areas addressed include: differences between teaching and performance, between naturalistic and effective functioning, and between detailed observations and gross statistical data;…

Studies have shown that students, after having studied physics concepts and being familiar with them for an appreciable time, may nevertheless lack the ancillary knowledge needed to use such concepts reliably; correspondingly, they exhibit major misconceptions and errors. Provided in this paper is an analysis of the ancillary knowledge required to…

The hypothesis as to the atomic structure of any given substance is introduced in many physics and chemistry textbooks by conveying the idea of repetitive division of a given amount of substance, for example, by grinding, dissolving, or evaporating. The rationale for this approach is the assumption of students inferring that this process of…

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 the concepts of "living" held by 32 students in four different…

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 friction. Students (N=47) were…

The objective of the research is to learn if learning level of the university students in redox subject of chemistry education change when they use traditional learning method and computer supported method, and to compare these two methods by measuring their success through pre- test and final test. And also some factors that may affect the…

Excursions, or field trips, are a common component of early childhood programs, seen as a means of enriching the curriculum by providing experiences with people, places, and things in the community. Although excursions have been used as a framework for research on children's memory development, research on the efficacy of excursions in terms of…