This study qualitatively investigates the taboo and "noa" topics of Science-Technology-Society (STS) taught in two local cultures. Taboos are beliefs that constrain behavior by making those behaviors perceived as threatening by the members of the social group forbidden and improper for discussion. "Noa" is the Polynesian word…

The National Student Research Center (NSRC) is dedicated to promoting student research and the use of the scientific method in all subject areas across the curriculum, especially science and mathematics. The NSRC facilitates the implementation of a nationally recognized, innovative, and highly effective approach to instruction called the Student…

This paper discusses teaching science to language minority students and describes work with linguistic minority children and their teachers. A key goal of this work is to create scientific sense-making communities in the classroom that parallel science as it is practiced in the world. Following a critique of current practice in science education,…

The purpose of this study was to give voice to students' perceptions in two science classrooms taught by two white teachers in an urban multicultural middle-level school situated in the American Deep South. Student participants were 35 students of different ethnicities in grades 7 and 8. The theoretical reference used is social contextual, a…

This manual has been prepared by Ohio educators and the Ohio Department of Education to assist teachers in preparing their students for success in the Ohio Fourth-grade Proficiency Tests in Writing, Reading, Mathematics, Citizenship, and Science. Actual student responses to the April 1994 field test items are used in this manual to illustrate…

This project originated with the desire to offer general biology students a laboratory experience which emphasizes scientific thinking rather than a review of lecture content. To create investigative laboratories without many of the practical problems of their implementation, this project uses a combination of "methods modules" for…

As part of a larger comparison of the school-to-work transition in Switzerland and Great Britain, instruction in mathematics, science, and practical subjects (industrial arts and home economics) in the two countries was compared by two methods: site visits to English and Swiss schools by teams of English teachers and inspectors and analyses of the…

Recent research has focused on how prospective teachers formulate beliefs related to teaching and learning mathematics and science. This paper examines the use of videotaped mathematics and science lesson segments to aid in the description or identification of initial belief structures of prospective elementary school teachers. Using a…

A collection of essays on teaching linguistically diverse student populations includes: "Linguistic Diversity and Academic Achievement" (Beverly McLeod); "The Impact of the Education Reform Movement on Limited English Proficient Students" (Patricia Gandara); "The Role of Discourse in Learning, Schooling, and Reform" (Hugh Mehan); "The Values of a…

This manual is designed to provide teachers with practical information to assist them as they implement the new science programs in their classrooms. A number of factors have influenced the development of the Alberta Senior High School Science Program. The Alberta Education policy paper, "Secondary Education in Alberta" (1985); the…

The Education Resources Center (ERC) is a community-based organization that serves students from various elementary schools united by the Phoenix Coalition for Youth and Families (PCYF). The PCYF Project was authorized to organize agencies and schools in the lower socio-economic areas of inner-city Phoenix into one collaborative arrangement. This…

This document describes the development and content of five videocassettes used to depict diverse approaches to kindergarten education to preservice and current teachers and teacher educators. Developed under a faculty development grant from the University of South Dakota, the tapes range between 15 and 25 minutes in duration. The first tape,…

The purpose of this hearing was to examine the status of the Star Schools program, a federal program enacted by Congress in 1987 that enables students to be linked together via satellite or cable TV hookup with teachers in different parts of the country. Star Schools are a network of distance education programs that link remote classes of students…

Recent studies have documented a decline in academic performance and motivation as students move from elementary to middle level schools. This paper expands these studies in three ways: (1) by examining the classroom-level differences among middle school students' motivation to see if motivational constructs vary by classroom; (2) by exploring the…

Teachers describe their professional development experiences regarding science, science teaching, and science learning as they occurred over a 2.5 year period in the Literacy in Science and Social Studies Project in a professional development school setting. They contrast their experiences in this collaborative setting with more traditional models…