The article presents the results of a study that examined Palestinian physicians' misconceptions about abused wives and abusive husbands and the extent to which Palestinian physicians approve of wife abuse. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 396 physicians. The results revealed that between 10% and 49% of the Palestinian physicians…

Textbooks have a specific importance since they are used as the main instruction material. It is important to know that whether commonly used textbooks are adequate in terms of content and presentation. This study was performed to examine whether chapters on "photosynthesis" and "respiration" in the Biology-3 textbooks, that…

Science instructors have long known that the use of discrepant events with unexpected outcomes is a powerful method of activating thinking. A discrepant "teaching" event is similar to a discrepant science event in that it vividly portrays what is often an abstract construct or concept and has an unexpected outcome. The unexpected outcome creates…

From our teaching of the contractile unit of the striated muscle, we have found limitations in using textbook illustrations of sarcomere structure and its related dynamic molecular physiological details. A hand-held model of a striated muscle sarcomere made from common items has thus been made by us to enhance students' understanding of the…

Participation in rigorous high school courses such as Advanced Placement (AP[R]) Physics increases the likelihood of college success, especially for students who are traditionally underserved. Tackling difficult multiple-choice exams should be part of any AP program because well-constructed multiple-choice questions, such as those on AP exams and…

Fairness is often considered synonymous with equality: the equal treatment of people sharing a uniform description or role. This concept--"fair" means "equal"--has spawned the notion that it is fair to teach all children the same way. Put simply, if fairness means equality in family life, restaurant dining, and sports--not to mention in observing…

Scientific modeling is an integral part of contemporary science, yet many students have little understanding of how models are developed, validated, and used to predict and explain phenomena. A simple modeling exercise led to significant gains in understanding key attributes of scientific modeling while revealing some stubborn misconceptions.…

The author previously published a paper discussing how to conduct an analysis based on a cluster sample. In that paper, the author outlined several widely adopted alternative approaches, and pointed out that such approaches are anyway not needed for population figures, and not possible for non-probability samples. Thus, the author queried the…

Children are familiar with situations in which air resistance plays an important role, such as parachuting. However, it is not known whether they have any understanding about the concept of air resistance, how air resistance affects falling objects, and the differential effect it has on different objects. The literature reveals that there are…

The article by David Stoesz and Howard J. Karger, "Reinventing Social Work Accreditation," is misleading and erroneous in its assumptions, makes unsubstantiated assertions, and demonstrates an ideological shallowness on the part of the authors in their understanding of social work education, the Council on Social Work Education, and the…

Does the person become the name or does the name become the person? This question was asked by a participant of my culture jam entitled, "What's my name?" In this culture jam, I asked people to discern the name of a person based solely on their appearance and a list of possible names below their picture. This article aims to show how culture jams…

Purpose: A picture is worth a thousand words. Multimedia teaching materials have been widely adopted by teachers in Physics, Biotechnology, Psychology, Religion, Analytical Science, and Economics nowadays. To assist with engaging students in their economic study, increase learning efficiency and understanding, solve misconception problems,…

This book offers a critical and deconstructive account of global discourses on education, arguing that these overblown "hypernarratives" are neither economically, technically nor philosophically defensible. Nor even sane. Their "mythic economic instrumentalism" mimic rather than meet the economic needs of global capitalism in…

This book examines the concept of civility and the conditions of civil disagreement in politics and education. Although many assume that civility is merely polite behavior, it functions to aid rational discourse. Building on this basic assumption, the book offers multiple accounts of civility and its contribution to citizenship, deliberative…

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) With Cheating on the Rise, Schools Respond (David McKay Wilson); (2) Waldorf Education in Public Schools: Educators Adopt--and Adapt--This Developmental, Arts-Rich Approach…