This book is a guide to help teachers develop performance-based curriculum projects that include authentic assessments. Section 1, Project-Based (or Performance-Based) Learning and Performance Assessment, describes and gives a rationale for this type of learning and assessment and project-based classrooms. It also notes the role of teachers and…

This document reports on a 6-year study of science education reform, the Scope, Sequence, and Coordination (SS&C) Project. The reform included teacher enhancement activities as well as curricular materials and was designed to help science students achieve the National Research Council's Science Standards (1995). The two components of the study…

This book, for grades 2-6, is designed to provide students with a highly motivating and unique opportunity to investigate an aquatic habitat. Students set up, observe, study, and reflect upon their own "desktop ponds." Accessible plants and small animals used in these activities include Elodea, Tubifex worms, snails, mosquito larvae, and fish.…

This activity guide is designed for educators and features suggestions for possible activity paths for different amounts of available time and survival tips for activity leaders. Each activity is divided into two sections--educator ideas and activity handouts. Activity sections include: (1) Foundations; (2) Bridges; (3) Domes; (4) Skyscrapers; (5)…

This paper documents a pilot study designed to explore the ideas of high school students regarding the nature and role of theories, an aspect of the nature of science (NOS) that continues to be problematic for students, teachers, and the general public. Although there is a much greater emphasis on the nature of science in standards documents,…

This study examined issues that arose during the development and implementation of a modified form of traditional problem based learning (PBL) at one Canadian university. It explored PBL in the context of preservice education, investigating how it could be used to foster an inquiry based approach to preservice preparation and how preservice…

This document presents a sample of the Arkansas science curriculum and identifies the content standards for physical science systems, life science systems, and Earth science/space science systems for kindergarten students. Each content standard is explained and includes student learning expectations, kindergarten benchmarks, assessments, and…

The new advancement in genetics and reproductive technologies is one of the most relevant controversial topics concerning students in science education today. This study investigates the role of teachers in providing an environment for students in which they can interchange ideas and discuss ethical issues in science classrooms. This study…

This paper describes a teacher-researcher's efforts to reshape students' attitudes and assumptions about mathematics in concert with the national mathematics standards. Changes as well as the ways students clung to traditional classroom roles are described. Mathematics formats and types of activities that were successful--and unsuccessful--for…

This study investigates a model for teacher enhancement that incorporates cross-cultural interaction and the construction of web-based environmental teaching modules that would support sustained collaborative inquiry among students and teachers. Over a two-year period, web-assisted environmental inquiries and web-based teaching modules were…

This article highlights the work of Ontario teachers who use research and inquiry in the classrooms as part of self-directed professional learning. It positions action research within the work of the Professional Affairs Department at the Ontario College of Teachers. It begins with a narrative account of the researcher's work as a program officer…

Consistent with the current reform movement in science education, the purpose of this study was to examine how the introduction of an innovative curriculum influenced teachers' beliefs. Six teachers each implemented an Acids & Bases Curriculum Unit in a variety of middle school settings. The teachers were interviewed regarding their beliefs…

This study explored the use of an inquiry-based interactive multimedia program to identify the process by which students' higher order thinking skills developed in a science classroom. Videotapes of students' interactions with computers were analyzed to identify the use of higher order thinking skills. The Macintosh multimedia research package…

Most of America's pre-service science teachers enter their preparation programs without having conducted a single inquiry in which they have developed the question being investigated or the means to resolve it. This article describes a study in which twelve pre-service secondary science teachers developed their own investigations--from formulating…

This book uses a detective approach to teach about environmental issues. Student sleuths investigate many potential causes of fish dying including chlorine pollution, acid rain, erosion and sediment pollution, predator-prey relationships, phosphate pollution and algal blooms, and oil pollution. The text provides students the opportunity to grapple…