Geoff Teece has recently (in "BJRE", 27, 2005, pp. 29-40) come to the defence of modern religious education and contended that many of the criticisms brought against it are based on mistaken interpretations. More particularly, Teece accuses Andrew Wright of misinterpreting the position of Professor John Hick and of failing to appreciate…

The article contends that previous scholars have misread George Pierce Baker's efforts by focusing primarily on "The Principles of Argumentation" and the role of logic. Baker's view of logic was more complex than scholars have claimed. He challenged traditional concepts of formal logic, highlighting only those aspects that would help students…

This writing-intensive, lab-based, nonmajor biology course explores scientific inquiry and biological concepts through specific topics illustrated or inaccurately depicted in works of science fiction. The laboratory emphasizes the scientific method and introduces several techniques used in biological research related to the works we study.…

Although science is very successful at its business of explaining phenomena, it is not successful at explaining the nature of its own phenomenon: scientific inquiry. Absent understanding, myths, and misconceptions rush in. The author takes a closer look at the process of scientific inquiry, and presents a review of how scientists describe what…

This keynote address suggests that the rural sector of Australia is, and will remain, absolutely essential to the well-being of the entire nation. There are misconceptions that the rural economy is no longer important to the nation as a whole and that rural people and communities are marginal to society. Australia's entire economy is heavily…

The main objective of the study reported in this paper was to construct a Lakatosian teaching strategy that can facilitate conceptual change in students' understanding of chemical equilibrium. The strategy is based on the premise that cognitive conflicts must have been engendered by the students themselves in trying to cope with different problem…

The underlying theme of this book illustrates how constructivist ideas can be used by science and mathematics educators for research and the further improvement of educational practice. Authors from various parts of the world describe their work investigating students' conceptions, improving teaching and curricula, and enhancing teacher education…

The intent of this paper is to open for consideration the relationship between metacognition and the promotion of conceptual change within the classroom. This goal is achieved through a brief description of present research by the authors, drawing from the existing literature a summary of what is meant by conceptual change learning, defining the…

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of eighteen 11th grade high school chemistry students' prior mathematical knowledge on their understanding of certain chemical concepts (symbol, formula, and equation). It also investigated students' ideas about the meaning of plus sign, reaction sign, and the relationships between subscript, and…

The term "statistical significance" is often misunderstood or abused to imply a large effect size. A recent example is in the work of J. P. Rushton (1988, 1990) on differences between Negroids and Caucasoids. Rushton used brain size and cranial size as indicators of intelligence, using Pearson "r"s ranging from 0.03 to 0.35.…

This study investigates the relationships between student beliefs about the nature of science, student attitudes, and conceptual change about the nature of forces in a traditional high school physics classroom. Students (N=28) in the study were junior-level high school honors students in an introductory physics class. The physics instruction was…

This paper examines the nature and evaluation of creative behavior, tracing the origins of creativity research and developing an interdisciplinary framework for such research. The first part of the paper is devoted to identifying the nature of some common misconceptions regarding the nature and evaluation of creative behaviors, and tracing their…

Misconceptions, shown to be prevalent in students even at the college level, may affect the cognitive process of making predictions in biology. The purpose of this study was to: (1) identify students' misconceptions about important biological concepts; (2) identify students' cognitive behaviors associated with making predictions about these…

This handbook offers background and suggestions for developing programs in which parents learn how to actively participate in their children's education. It is based on 42 participating projects throughout the country. It contains the following seven chapters: (1) "The Hispanic Profile"; (2) "Misperceptions and Misconceptions"; (3) "The Elements…

Student knowledge in a subject area prior to and after instruction has traditionally been assessed by administering a pre- and post-test, usually multiple choice, though recent studies criticize the use of even the best-constructed multiple choice tests. This study assessed college freshmen's knowledge before and after a laboratory experience in…