Missouri's Framework for Curriculum Development in Science acknowledges that teachers will bring the vision, ideals, and principles of the Show-Me Standards of the state of Missouri into their classrooms in exciting and innovative ways. The role of the frameworks is to provide districts with a "frame" for building curricula using the…

This paper analyzes the effects of ability grouping on middle school math and science achievement, attempting to account for these effects in terms of measurable classroom experiences of students. It is hypothesized that grouping effects operate through classroom instructional differences. Data collected from a national sample of public school…

Out of the school reform movement of the eighties have come recommendations for professional development schools, site-based management, and teacher empowerment. Such initiatives can be implemented only in environments where continuing pursuit of new knowledge exists at every level. There is a pressing need for educational models that strive to…

This essay proposes that systematic and reflective inquiry ought to become the underlying professional frame of mind that guides teachers, administrators, and policy officials. It is noted that the products of inquiry include rationales connecting recommended courses of action to intended outcomes, as well as the invention of techniques,…

This paper describes how the Web-based Inquiry for Learning Science (WBI) instrument was used with preservice elementary and secondary science teachers in science methods courses to enhance their understanding of Web-based scientific inquiry. The WBI instrument is designed to help teachers identify Web-based inquiry activities for learning science…

This volume is a definitive guide to what is known about the preparation of teachers, induction into the tasks of teaching, and career teacher development. It is designed for educators responsible for preservice teacher education and inservice staff development. The articles are organized in nine sections under the following heads: (1) Teacher…

This paper designs a theoretical construct that integrates a number of mainstream systems of inquiry available to educational policymakers. Each system of inquiry has postulates, basic and derived concepts that characterize its epistemological foundations and methodological directives. None of these systems of inquiries, however, is proscriptive…

This digest was prepared to provide some information about activities aimed at improving the science curriculum, a task that is neither easy nor simple. Six identifiable emphases are identified including: inquiry teaching; science, technology, and society; conceptual change; thematic science teaching; The Scope, Sequence, and Coordination project…

Question development in English as a second language in four native Spanish-speaking children is described. The English questions initiated by four children differing in English proficiency (two limited English speaking and two fluent English speaking) were examined at two points in time to determine how question use changes in the syntactic,…

In the teaching of a science concept, it is important for the teacher to arouse the student's curiosity. Once curiosity is aroused, the students will learn much more on their own than the teacher can ever teach them. The use of discrepant events in the teaching of science is one of the best methods to arouse this curiosity. This book is a…

The intended, perceived, implemented, and achieved curriculum of high school biology classes in Israel was studied using a variety of data sources and research methodologies. The intended curriculum was identified by analysis of commonly used laboratory manuals. The perceived curriculum was captured by procuring the views of teachers and students…

The revolution in hard sciences is explored, from the Cartesian-Newtonian worldview to the Heisenbergian universe, and consideration is given to whether the conventional, Cartesian model is a serviceable one for research in the social/applied sciences. Five axioms comprising the existing paradigm of logical positivism are outlined (reality,…

One component of the "Master Curriculum Guide in Economics for the Nation's Schools," this guide demonstrates, through sample lessons, how the conceptual structure of economics, presented in part 1 of the series, can be taught in the K-12 curricula. The guide is designed to accelerate economics instruction at all grade levels, including the…

The IMS Learning Design specification provides a potential means for capturing units of instruction in a machine-readable, consistent way. However, in order for the IMS Learning Design specification to be used widely by educators and instructional designers for whom it is intended, we will need effective ways for users to contribute to, access and…

This document contains a research report and a teacher's guide about the importance of questioning in children's education. The research was based on the belief that effective information processing begins with the learner's desire to ask questions. The report identifies four basic types of questions: (1) evaluative, which involves making…