Compared is the mass of a dozen eggs with the mass of air in an empty refrigerator. An answer and reasons for the answer are provided. (YP)

An experimental study of 170 undergraduate biology students at a suburban community college revealed that the final evaluation of these students was based more heavily on verbal and written aspects of biology than on practical application of concepts. (IAH)

Analyzes construct validity of two different methods of assessing practical skills in advanced level biology by considering how candidates' scores on practical objectives relate to each other and to those on theory papers. Differences were found in the interrelationships among scores of the two methods. (ZWH)

A brief examination of the Chinese National University Entrance Examination (NUEE) and the unusual influence it has on physics teaching in China. An assessment is made of the problems the NUEE has created for teaching secondary school physics, and the trends of the reform of the Chinese NUEE. (AIM)

Discusses various aspects of standardization and testing in science education and their effects on students and on reform efforts. Argues that science educators need to begin to question the system and their practices with regard to testing and need to be willing to act on the answers they find. Contains 10 references. (JRH)

Compared four mapping item methods using data from the physical science test of the National Assessment of Educational Progress and studied the opinions of science content area experts about the difficulty of the items through a survey completed by 148 science teachers or scientists. Results of model-based mapping methods were more concordant with…

Seventh-grade science teacher Sonia Mangano stared at the results of her district's mid-year science assessment and asked herself, "Why is it my students seem to have trouble with matter-related ideas? Our district's spiral science curriculum builds on previous concepts from year to year. Yet these results show my students have difficulty with…

Recent education reform efforts are at the forefront of educators' minds across the nation, science teachers notwithstanding. At least 48 states have developed a mandated standardized test, the majority of which also publish an individual school proficiency report. Washington State's new standardized science test is an example of such reforms…

To better understand the dynamics of online student test taking, including the likelihood of cheating by large numbers of students, we examined test-taking patterns and outcomes of weekly online quizzes in two large undergraduate biology lecture courses. Students taking a quiz late in a 1-3-day quiz access period performed 10-15% worse on quizzes…

The aim of this study is to investigate Emiratii high school students' understandings of stoichiometry, their use of metacognitive strategies, and the influence of students' use of metacognitive strategies on their understandings of stoichiometry. Two instruments were used in this study, the first to measure students' understandings of…

This paper provides information about the New York's Regents Examination. The purpose of the exam is to: (1) Provide schools with student academic diagnostic information; (2) Determine prospective high school graduates' knowledge and skill levels relative to those needed for entry-level employment; (3) Determine prospective high school graduates'…

This document contains the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's Test Center alternative assessment holdings for science which covers all grade levels. Alternative refers to holdings or topics other than standardized, norm-referenced tests. Included are 129 annotated state, classroom, national, and international assessments. Items are coded…

Reviews "Science Education in Nineteen Countries: An Empirical Study" by L.C. Comber and John P. Keeves. For related articles, see TM 501 491, 492, 494 and 495. (RC)

This is the final test for students in the ninth-grade science course offered in Alberta (Canada) schools. Intended for administration during June 1985, it contains 75 multiple-choice questions. Ninety minutes are allowed for completing the test. An answer key is not included. (JN)