This paper aims to clarify and describe the process of change in learners' conceptual understanding of natural phenomena. It begins by reviewing the existing literature on models of conceptual change and on children's conceptions in a number of selected topic areas. Strategies for exploring and developing children's ideas in these areas have also…

Designed to examine the nature of ideas that students hold about specific scientific concepts and to investigate modes of instruction that would effectively help them gain an accurate understanding of their world, this study focused on students' conceptions of ecological concepts and the influence of field instruction strategies on students'…

The National Science Foundation (NSF) provides awards for education and research in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering. This publication contains information on fiscal year 1986 awards. An introductory section reviews the goals of NSF's education program and the long-range goals of the Directorate for Science and Engineering Education.…

Designed for use in vocational education programs, this unit on solar space heating contains information and suggestions for teaching at the secondary school level. It focuses on heating, ventilating, and air conditioning programs. Educational objectives and educational objectives with instructional strategies are provided for each of the eight…

The naive conceptions that children develop tacitly or explicitly, outside the classroom, contribute to their interpretation of the teacher's words, paragraphs in a book, or the results of an experiment. These conceptions (or "alternative frameworks") may persist even in the face of systematic teaching of competing scientific concepts…

Analogies and examples from student's experiences are frequently cited as important to teaching conceptual material. This study was conducted in order to explore the effectiveness of an analogical teaching technique, which uses a connected sequence of "bridging" analogies, compared with a more standard teaching-by-example technique. The…

The Academy of Math, Science, and Engineering was established at the Luther Burbank High School of Sacramento, California as a rigorous and competitive academic alternative program. This report contains an evaluation of the second year (1984-85) of the program. Program accomplishments are reviewed in the categories of: (1) student enrollment; (2)…

A teaching procedure and a curriculum construction model known as the learning cycle is described in this paper and research findings are discussed. Questions investigated include: (1) would students achieve more content understanding if taught with the learning cycle or exposition?; (2) would more content retention be evident if measurements were…

In an effort to improve students' interests in science and science courses, a study was conducted in Israel to evaluate students' attitudes towards science relative to two chemistry curricula. These curricula were Chemistry for High Schools (CFH), and Chemistry--A Challenge (CAC). The CFH program was mainly designed for science-oriented students…

Based on experiences gained during the Girls into Science and Technology (GIST) project, this report reviews practical suggestions for teaching science to mixed classes in ways that encourage girls to become more involved in the sciences. Chapter 1 provides data about sex differences in examination entries and women's representation in…

This study quide is intended to provide students with information about the types and functions of plants, along with some individual learning activities. The guide contains sections about: (1) the contributions of plants to life on earth and the benefits they afford to humanity; (2) the processes of photosynthesis and respiration; (3) the flow of…

An analysis of science teacher's knowledge of specific biology and physics topics and the effects of this knowledge on their planning for instruction and on simulated teaching are discussed in this report. Six experienced secondary school teachers participated in the study. Each teacher's knowledge of a biology topic and a physics topic was…

One in a series of publications on Illinois' State Goals for Learning, this report identifies what students are expected to know in the biological and physical sciences by the time they complete their elementary and secondary education. A sample set of learning objectives is provided to assist districts in the development of their own objectives.…

Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching (FAST) is an interdisciplinary environmental science program which emphasizes the foundational concepts and methods of the physical, biological, and earth sciences, and relates these concepts to issues about the human use of the environment. This document stresses that evaluation is an integral part of…

The rationale and the methodology used in a study of high school graduates' viewpoints on science-technology-society (STS) topics are reviewed in this paper. The study employed the instrument, Views on Science-Technology-Society (VOSTS), which required students to write an argumentative paragraph responding to one of 46 statements about an STS…