In this article, the author describes three reports conducted by the National Academies, a private, nonprofit organization whose charter is to assist the federal government and the American people in analyzing pressing science and technology policy issues. These reports are: (1) "Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing…

The late 1980s saw the emergence of a new genre of instructional media, "edutainment", which utilized the capabilities of multimedia personal computers to animate software designed to both educate and entertain young children. This paper describes the production of, marketing of and play with edutainment software as a contemporary example of…

In this article, the author describes Penn High School's writing center, a technology-supported writing classroom which began in July 1994. The Penn writing center operates as a true "center"--a place for students and teachers, technology and talk, thinking and writing to come together. Every day, more than 200 students visit the writing…

Attitudinal data tested hypotheses that students have more positive attitudes toward science when teachers regularly emphasize hands-on laboratory activities and when students more frequently experience higher levels of experimentation or inquiry. The first predicted that students would have more positive attitudes toward science in classrooms…

The paper examines the potential for developing independent learning skills using the digital language laboratory with particular reference to exploiting the increasingly available resource of digital video. It investigates the potential for recording and editing video clips from online sources and digitalising clips from analogue recordings and…

Data sharing among multiple lab sections increases statistical power of data analyses and informs student-generated hypotheses. We describe how to collect, organize, and manage data to support replicate and rolling inquiry models, with three illustrative examples of activities from a population-level biology course for science majors. (Contains 1…

This manual is intended as a resource for teachers who have special education students in their mainstream science classes, for curriculum adoption committees, and for publishers and consumers of science curriculum materials. Part 1 describes general characteristics of students with disabilities and provides general mainstreaming strategies and…

The purpose of this symposium was to provide a forum for the interchange of state of the art mathematics and science education teaching in two Southeast South Dakota National Science Foundation Statewide Systemic Initiative projects. Presentations include: (1) "To Get This Car Moving, We Will Have to Put It in Gear" (Delmar Janke); (2)…

This booklet contains information for parents whose children are enrolled in the Child Development Laboratory (CDL), a university-based preschool and child care program operated by the Department of Human and Community Development on the campus of the University of Illinois. The program provides half-day preschool for 2- to 4-year-old children and…

This study was implemented to assess the state of computer technology in the Tri-County area; to determine the status of computer usage; and to provide a frame of reference for the broad technological status for comparison among schools. The population of the study, consisting of 91 elementary schools, 30 middle/junior high schools, and 25…

This document reports a project, entitled Workshop Physics, that involved the development and testing of introductory physics materials to enable instructors to abandon the traditional separation of lecture and laboratory in favor of a workshop format. The Workshop Physics courses emphasize cognitive development enhanced by direct experience and…

This document is written to encourage college faculty to use a student-centered, activity-related, approach to science instruction. Suggestions are provided for methods that can be used by faculty and administrators to develop alternatives to lecturing. The major sections of this document include the following: (1) Is There an Alternative to…

This set of 16 laboratory activities is designed to illustrate the life cycle of Brassicae plants from seeds in pots to pods in 40 days. At certain points along the production cycle of the central core of labs, there are related lateral labs to provide additional learning opportunities employing this family of plants, referred to as "fast…

The study reported in the paper attempted to compare the science laboratory teaching practices and the learning environments of secondary schools in some developing and developed South Pacific countries. This study combined qualitative (observation, interview, and case study techniques) with quantitative methods. Analysis of data found similar…

This paper analyzes the process of collaborative research at Harvard University's Educational Technology Center, focusing on the conflicts or tensions that reveal differences in the cultures of schools and universities. It clarifies differences between schools and universities in tacit assumptions and values, in customary language and norms, and…