Interactive Biology Multimedia Courseware is an on-going project, with new titles continually under development. Currently, Interactive Biology includes 38 biological titles on CD-ROM for Macintosh and IBM-compatible systems. Each title deals with a specific biological subject and provides in-depth, comprehensive course material for the 9th grade…

"Schools Ethics Technology" was a German interdisciplinary research project with the Centre of Ethics in the Sciences at the University of Tubingen. The project highlighted the new topic of biotechnology and genetic engineering, involving the formation of active project groups within schools. This study examined teaching activities…

Lower birth weight babies have worse outcomes, both short-run in terms of one year mortality rates and longer run in terms of educational attainment and earnings. However, recent research has called into question whether birth weight itself is important or whether it simply reflects other hard-to-measure characteristics. By applying within twin…

Ten computer simulations for the Apple II are described. Subject areas of programs include: population dynamics, plant competition, enzyme kinetics, evolution and natural selection, genetic mapping, ammonia synthesis, reaction kinetics, wave interference/diffraction, satellite orbits, and particle scattering. (JN)

Because advanced students had difficulty in interpreting cleavage patterns obtained by gel electrophoresis related to rapid sequencing techniques for DNA and RNA, several formats were developed to aid in understanding this topic. Formats included print, print plus scrambled print, interactive computer-based instruction, and high-resolution…

Profiles the work of Dr. Caleb Williams Saleeby, a late 19th-century propagandist for eugenics. Eugenics is a science that deals with the transmission of hereditary racial traits, coupled with a desire to use this for the elimination of social ills. Discusses Saleeby's work with the Eugenics Education Society. (MJP)

Describes an activity that combines manual and computer simulation of a population undergoing selection using three alternative genetic models. Discusses procedures used, model and how the computer simulation works. Stresses the advantage of using the student involvement of the manual exercise in combination with the speed of the computer…

Discusses issues raised in "The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life" (Richard Herrnstein, Charles Murray), a controversial book that looks at the role of intelligence in shaping social structure. The authors' methodology, approach, and interpretations of statistical data are criticized. It is suggested that a…

Argues that an evolutionary perspective can unite the study of species-typical development and individual variation. Provides examples from the domains of personality, social, and intellectual development. Maintains that understanding the ways in which genes and environments work together helps developmentalists identify children who need…

A quantitative examination was made of the association of parental mood and anxiety disorders with severity of disability within a large sample of young children with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). Maternal recurrent mood disorders were associated with elevated cognitive and adaptive functioning in their affected children, parent reports…

This hypothesis-driven laboratory exercise teaches how DNA evidence can be used to investigate an organism's evolutionary history while providing practical modeling of the fundamental processes of gene transcription and translation. We used an inquiry-based approach to construct a laboratory around a nontrivial, open-ended evolutionary question…

Historical perspectives on science serve to humanize the sciences, increase student motivation, communicate academic content, and convey the nature of science. This paper briefly reviews pertinent literature regarding the history of science and narrates the author's experiences of incorporating historical perspectives in high school biology…

Biology knowledge and understanding is important not only for the conversion of the loftiest dreams into reality for a better life of individuals but also for preparing secondary pupils for such fields as agriculture, medicine, biotechnology, and genetic engineering. But a recent study has revealed that many aspects of school science (biology…

Background: Given the importance of parenting for the child's early socio-emotional development, parenting perceptions and behaviours, and their correlates, should be assessed as early as possible in the child's life. The goals of the present study were 1) to confirm, in two parallel population-based samples, including a large sample of twins, the…

Background: Parent-child mutuality is comprised of emotional reciprocity, co-responsiveness, and cooperation, which together represent aspects of co-regulation of emotion and behavior that may be important in the etiology of children's behavior problems. Furthermore, individual differences in children's mutuality and behavior problems involve…