In an investigation of the accuracy of self-evaluation on test performance, 210 junior high school science students were asked to predict their scores before and after taking each unit test. Absolute differences between the two predictions and actual scores were the random variables analyzed. Analysis of variance and Markov chain analyses revealed…

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SMALL GROUP COMPATIBILITY AND ACHIEVEMENT IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE CURRICULUM STUDY LABORATORY BLOCK PROGRAM WAS TESTED. STUDENTS IN 14 CLASSES FROM FOUR HIGH SCHOOLS WERE ASSIGNED TO FOUR-MEMBER LABORATORY GROUPS CLASSIFIED AS COMPATIBLE OR INCOMPATIBLE. GROUP CLASSIFICATION WAS VALIDATED BY OBSERVERS WHO WERE NOT AWARE…

Presents a list of the aims and objectives appropriate for instruction and assessment in a chemistry course at the N level. (GS)

Presents the keynote address of the Australian Science Teachers Association CONASTA XXVI convention held May 9, 1977, in Sydney. Trends and future projections of science curricula in Australia were reviewed. (SL)

Discussed are three themes related to changes taking place in secondary school education in Great Britain. The themes considered are curriculum, assessment, and school organization. (RH)

Writing poetry engages students' imagination and helps them to grasp and retain concepts. Using poetry writing to reinforce science concepts is described. A reproducible form to get students started is provided. (MT)

Presents questions and answers to the 1985 British Physics Olympiad (BPhO) Competition. Comments about the competition (the second year of British participation) and the winners who went to Yugoslavia (and placed second behind the USSR) are included. (JN)

Misconceptions occur because the caliper is often read with the same significant figures as a meter stick; however, the precision of the vernier caliper is greater than the precision of a meter stick. Clarification of scale reading, precision of both tools, and significant figures are discussed. (JN)

Identified a set of variables which characterize science course enrollment by black secondary students. The population consisted of a subsample of 3963 black high school seniors from The High School and Beyond 1980 Base-Year Survey. Residency in a given census area and English grades were significant predictors of science enrollment. (JN)

Proposes doing away with dimensions and replacing them with base units, extending the checking of feasibility of equations and deriving relationships to base units. (JM)

Provides background information for teachers on mitochondrial DNA, pointing out that it may have once been a free-living organism. Includes a ready-to-duplicate exercise titled "Using Microchondrial DNA to Measure Evolutionary Distance." (JN)

Several changes in assessment of students in Great Britain are being considered, including establishing a common system of examining at 16-plus and moving toward specifying criteria for the award of grades. Issues related to these trends (including the demise of the General Certificate of Secondary Education--GCSE) are examined. (JN)

Discusses various topics related to the geology of Mercury including the origin of Mercury's magnetism, Mercury's motions, volcanism, scarps, and Mercury's violent birth and early life. Includes a table comparing Mercury's orbital and physical data to that of earth's. (JN)

Provides information for teaching a unit on wild plants, including resources to use, plants to learn, safety considerations, list of plants (with scientific name, edible parts, and uses), list of plants that might cause allergic reactions when eaten. Also describes the chickweed, bull thistle, and common mallow. (BC)

Describes an inexpensive and convenient way to solve the problem of maintaining the proper humidity needed in incubation chambers. (JN)