A series of classroom practices and techniques are provided to help classroom teachers overcome their anxiety in teaching science. Chapter 1 (Fearing the Unknown) focuses on reasons for teaching science in elementary grades, science processes, characteristics of inquiry, questioning and inquiry, and using small groups. Chapter 2 (Managing…

Transcripts of three conversations on liberal education, recorded at a 1977 conference at St. John's College, Santa Fe, are presented. The idea that great books are the best instruments for liberal education is addressed, and it is suggested that great books demonstrate to the student what is possible in the way of inquiry and expression, and that…

This issue of "Investigations in Science Education" contains 9 articles related to teacher education and a single study reporting the investigation of questioning styles used in high school biology textbooks. Each abstract, written by a science educator, includes bibliographical data, research design and procedure, purpose, research rationale, and…

A four-part heuristic model seeks to enhance teacher and student-writer awareness of the significance of the self as writer. The questions in the heuristic examine the relationships between the self and the self as writer, between the self and the subject matter, between the self and the audience, and between the self and the form of the…

THIS PROJECT CONSISTED OF DEVELOPING AND TESTING MATERIALS DESIGNED TO TEACH THE PROCESSES OF SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY TO BEGINNING BIOLOGY STUDENTS. MATERIALS CALLED "SPRINGBOARDS FOR DISCUSSION" AND DESIGNED FOR PRESENTATION BY USING THE OVERHEAD PROJECTOR AND MAGNETIC TAPES WERE USED IN INSTRUCTION. MATERIALS OF THE FOLLOWING TYPES WERE…

A sharing period in the first grade can provide children with many opportunities for developing both personally and educationally (e.g., becoming aware of others' attitudes and expressing themselves orally). Moreover, much can be learned by the teacher about students' interests, needs, and abilities when they are encouraged to "brainstorm" such…

This paper describes a project which focused primarily on developing a method for qualitatively assessing and describing curiosity/inquiry styles in individual children. A class of "puzzling-phenomenon" tasks for idiographic assessment of scientific curiosity/inquiry was developed and individually administered to five rural and five urban…

Three philosophic positions underlying the process of education -- to know, to do, and to be -- are considered as complementary rather than conflicting goals in this discussion of what the process of learning and teaching should ideally involve. "The Parable of a Literate Farmer" is the vehicle for describing the learning and teaching process. The…

The questioning techniques which teachers use when leading a class discussion of a reading assignment can be an essential component of profitable instruction. A brief review of the past 50 years of research on questioning levels indicates a need for attention to the cognitive level of queries as well as to their sequence since investigators have…

One of the training materials prepared for paralegals, or legal assistants, by the National Paralegal Institute under a Federal grant, the document presents legal interviewing techniques by focusing on an analysis of a particular legal interview conducted by a paralegal on a hypothetical case. From the analysis of the case, a number of problems,…

Described is the formulation of a classroom observation instrument to be used in the assessment of the inquiry mode of instruction in elementary science education. The instrument is designed for use in a live classroom or in the viewing of video tapes of live classroom activity. A pilot study using this instrument was performed during the summer…

The purpose of this investigation was to identify and describe what might be considered as a high level inquiry type science teacher. The instruments used included: (1) Science Teaching Checklist, (2) Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, (3) Rokeach Form E Dogmatism Scale, (4) Torrance Figural Test of Creativity, and (5) Science Teaching Assessment Test.…

This study has as its focus the science academic mean performance differences between senior high school pupils who have taken part in an outdoor educational center and those senior high school pupils who have not. An attempt was made to associate these differences with pupil participation in an outdoor educational center's offerings. A group of…