This study focused on students' development of inquiry skills in a computerized learning environment. Seven Year-11 classes (n=120) interacted with a computerized database, "Birds of Antarctica," and curriculum materials while the teacher used an inquiry approach to learning. Students perceived their classes as more investigative and…

Lack of gestalt imagery (the ability to create imaged wholes) can contribute to language comprehension disorder characterized by weak reading comprehension, weak oral language comprehension, weak oral language expression, weak written language expression, difficulty following directions, and a weak sense of humor. Sequential stimulation using an…

Presents the game "Life91," an adaptation of Conway's "The Game of Life." Played on a hexagonal board, the game generates number patterns of population size by rules that determine cell growth and death from one generation to another. An example illustrates the process. (MDH)

Many factors contribute to the resistance of preservice teachers to discuss topics in the foundations of education and to engage in critical questioning. The paper suggests students and teachers can experience the importance of foundational topics and disciplines by exploring the gap between rhetoric and practice in schools of education. (SM)

Journal writing lets teachers explore their practice, document classroom life, and reflect on experiences. Journals help develop understanding and insights which enrich professional judgment. The teacher's spirit of inquiry creates school culture. Self-view and creativity are crucial to teaching and must not be lost during educational development.…

Three cooperative learning methods--inquiry task design, two level content study groups, and test review teams--are described. Ways in which to incorporate these teaching techniques in a science methods course are included. The outcomes of using these methods on attendance and observed performance, product development, and performance on midterm…

A rationale is presented for the use of inquiry activities in the biology classroom when teaching the concept of evolution. An annotated list of evolution laboratory activities from 18 nontextbook sources is included. Each annotation includes the title, source, major evolutionary concepts, and a brief description. (KR)

An experiment accompanied by a series of writing exercises that engage students in activities that characterize scientific research is described. The exercise emphasizes experimental design and data analysis over technical manipulation. Possible issues for discussion and opportunities for collaboration and peer review are discussed. (KR)

The article uses research examples to explore how critical and constructionist social theory can raise and address questions of homosexuality in education. It outlines methodological strengths and weaknesses and examines critical research questions that qualitative research methodologies employing critical and constructionist theories might…

Twenty-six junior high school students with learning disabilities studied two science units via an activity-based, inquiry-oriented approach or a textbook approach. Students performed higher on immediate and delayed unit tests when they had learned by the inquiry approach, and reported a preference for this approach. Vocabulary acquisition was…

A broader conception of scholarship would include four types of scholarship: discovery, integration, application, and teaching. If this broader conception can be incorporated into graduate education and if colleges and universities will hire and reward the graduates of those programs, new faculty will be better prepared. (Author/MSE)

This article attempts to help teachers conceptualize science-related social issues and provides assistance in teaching such issues. Two teaching approaches are recommended: the case study approach and the investigation skills approach. Instructional goals are outlined, and each of the two teaching approaches is analyzed. (IAH)

An inquiry-based high school science class was developed to create a learning environment that would facilitate the development of scientific talent in students in a comprehensive high school. The class was designed to motivate students to pursue a sophisticated, substantial, independent scientific investigation over 2-3 years. (JDD)

The Learning Cycle Model presented is an attempt to build an articulated sequence of instructional activities that foster in-depth understanding of a complex natural phenomenon through many direct experiences that include student-generated inquiry, involve student-generated explanation and interpretation, and enrich the developed network of ideas…

From an analysis of five life science textbooks it was found that they stressed two aspects of scientific literacy--science as a body of knowledge and science as a way of investigating. Practically no text was devoted to science as a way of thinking, and little was devoted to the interaction of science, technology, and society (STS). (PR)