In recent years, the need to improve education has received considerable attention. The development of educational indicators is necessary to help policymakers determine whether educational conditions have improved and what additional actions are indicated. The Council of Chief State School Officers State Education Assessment Center initiated a…

Fifth and eighth grade students in New York City participated in a citywide science survey for the fourth consecutive year in 1987. These surveys were designed to assess overall achievement in the pre-high school grades and to provide school, district and citywide summary information about student performance in basic areas of the science…

A group of scientists and science educators at Washington State University has developed and pilot tested an integrated physical science program designed for preservice elementary school teachers. This document is a comprehensive guide to be provided to students in a physical science teaching methods course. Chapters include: (1) "Science as a…

A group of scientists and science educators at Washington State University (WSU) has developed and pilot tested an integrated physical science program designed for preservice elementary school teachers. Courses developed were: (1) fundamentals of astronomy and physics, (2) fundamentals of chemistry and earth sciences, and (3) methods for teaching…

Tropical forests provide the world with many products and an incredible diversity of plant and animal life. These forests also provide watershed areas, soil control, climate regulation, and winter homes for migrating birds from North America. It is believed that about 40% of tropical forests have already been destroyed in the last 20-30 years,…

Many researchers believe that prior knowledge is the single most important variable influencing learning. Learning in the classroom is determined or affected positively or negatively, to some degree, by the knowledge people bring to the classroom. This study was designed to: (1) assess fifth- and eighth-grade Korean students' misconceptions of…

Science process skills are the skills that scientists use to study and investigate the world. They are the vehicle for generating content and a means by which concepts are formed. This book is presented in three parts. Part 1 attends to the kinds of science skills appropriate for preschool and the lower elementary grades including observation,…

This is a collection of commonly asked questions about the new Asbestos-Containing Material in Schools rule announced by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in October 1987, under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) of 1986. It is offered as a guide to help school officials, training providers, and accredited…

This position paper was developed to inform U.S. policymakers of the state of science and technology education in the United States and of the importance of adequate science and technology understanding to the economic competitiveness of the country. Provided in this document are discussions of the national goals of science and technology…

Many students, even after formal science instruction, have not developed a scientifically acceptable concept of "living,""animal," or "plant." Therefore, as part of the action-research phase of the Learning in Science Project, a working group was formed to explore (with teachers) some possible strategies aimed at…

In the action-research phase of the Learning in Science Project, four groups of people worked on problems identified in the project's second (in-depth) phase. The Chemistry Action-Research Group considered problems related to the teaching and learning of ideas associated with particles and physical/chemical changes. Based on findings during the…

Content-based instruction, a method of foreign language instruction in which the main topics being taught come from the regular content-area curriculum, is used in elementary school foreign language programs to integrate language development with content-area learning. This goal is accomplished by providing activities in which the learner's…

This book contains the proceedings of a seminar that investigated the impact of cognitive and social development on the teaching of science in secondary schools, and the possible ways in which the science curriculum could be a context in which adolescents' development could be positively influenced. Six plenary papers were presented: (1) "Research…

In 1986, a total of 11 different populations involving more than 1000 schools and more than 20,000 students participated in the Second IEA Science Study (SISS). This digest discusses findings related to curricular patterns and student outcomes. Ratings were done at grades 5, 9, and 12, to ensure that the achievement tests reflected the science…

The Summer Institute in Science was developed to address the need for updated information and training in physics, chemistry, and technology among elementary and secondary teachers. Three major objectives addressed were to: (1) improve teachers' understanding of basic concepts in the subject field; (2) provide teachers with training in the use of…