Presents an executive summary of a white paper prepared for the U.S. Secretary of Education. Provides information about the mathematics and science courses that students take in middle school and high school and their effects on student achievement. (ASK)

Explains how student projects enable second-year chemistry students to gain their first experience studying a chemistry-based problem before undertaking a major project during the third year of their chemistry studies. (DDR)

Discusses the foundations of engineering design and highlights the problems confronting students who are required to make creative input into a design problem. Describes a way to implement creativity in teaching engineering design. Contains 38 references. (DDR)

Examines the perceptions and self-reported practices of 18 scientists participating in a year-long seminar series designed to explore issues of gender and ethnicity in science. Offers insight into how scientists can address the problem of women and ethnic minorities in science education, constraints encountered in attempts to implement pedagogical…

Provides information about each of the planets in our solar system. Focuses on information related to the space missions that have visited or flown near each planet, and includes a summary of what is known about some of the features of each planet. (DDR)

Tackles two questions that are pertinent to the selection of science textbooks at the middle school level. The questions relate to what research and common sense say about selecting texts, and the influence of large corporations in the textbook industry. (DDR)

Reports on a project that explored attitudes towards physics in Scotland, looking at students aged from 10-20 years old. Describes the main factors attracting school pupils into a study of physics together with the pattern of attitude changes that take place with age. The outcomes suggest some ways by which physics curriculum planners can develop…

Provides a collection of ideas for the promotion of a more relevant and popular science education. Includes professional components and society-needs components. (Author/MM)

Describes a program evaluation of the Rouge Education Project (REP), a school-based environmental education program that uses water monitoring, telecommunications, and student actions to improve water quality. Reports that results indicated that the REP met its goals of increasing awareness and concern about the Rouge River and developing a…

Presents an activity on the electrostatic phenomenon known as induction. Reviews the principles illustrated by each of the activities described in this series. (DDR)

Analyzes two conflicting pieces of evidence--the high-ranking achievement of Australian primary students on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and the knowledge that the quality of primary science education in Australia has been poor for some time. Reveals strengths and weaknesses in Australian elementary science…

Presents an interview with National Center for Improving Student Learning and Achievement (NCISLA) Associate Director Rich Lehrer and collaborating researcher Leona Schauble to answer the question of what science is worth teaching and the way it has been taught. (ASK)

Reports on a case study in which a high school teacher explored Multiple Intelligence (MI) theory using it as a conceptual framework to make decisions about structuring her grade 9 science curriculum. Describes the teacher's initial explorations of the theory, incorporation of the theory into daily teaching, and the outcomes of the study for both…

Analyzes the politicization of the natural sciences curriculum in Argentinean schools in relation to evolutionist theories and the teaching of astronomy and cosmography. Concludes that the ways in which content is selected and arranged arise as a solution to ideological conflicts. (MM)

Describes how environmental education can help achieve the goals of public education reform. Focuses on reform in curriculum, instruction, and assessment and considers school reform in various types of school settings. (DDR)