Uncritically accepted assumptions of adult education are it has humanistic goals; it narrows the gap in educational attainment; it is learner centered and empowering; (and it advances equality. The reality of practice must be confronted through critical pedagogy and participatory research. (SK)

Adolescent childbearing is embedded in persuasive societal problems and is not limited to ethnic minority groups or females. Although youth are reaching biological maturity earlier, society has delayed their acceptance as adults by requiring more years of education to secure decent employment. Also, today's economy makes family formation more…

Investigates Grade 12 students' understandings of the nature of chemical bonds and the energetics elicited across five familiar chemical reactions following a course of instruction. Discusses the many ways in which students can misconstruct concepts and principles. Contains 63 references. (DDR)

Reports on research designed to discover whether certain conceptual difficulties experienced by present day students in the realm of action at a distance are parallel to the experiences of scientists in previous generations. Contains 60 references. (DDR)

Shows how 28 contemporary films' messages about educational administrators shape and limit popular discourse about schools and their mission. Hollywood's celluloid images cannot capture our school communities' complex, challenging everyday realities. Practitioners should understand how mass media shapes policy debates about public institutions and…

Advocates removing the taboo regarding anthropomorphism and teleology in biology education. Argues that for high school students, accepting such formulations does not necessarily imply anthropomorphic or teleological reasoning. Further, living organisms seem goal-oriented because of their adaptation for survival. Concludes with the argument that…

Describes how the authors used portions of popular movies to help students review concepts related to electromagnetism. Movies used and concepts covered in the review are listed, and a sample activity is described. (WRM)

Describes a study that investigated whether scientific and nonscientific understandings in the same content area are linked. Finds that students' (n=107) explanations indicate that they were using an "if-then" type of reasoning which linked scientific and nonscientific conceptions. Contains 39 references. (Author/WRM)

Presents a variety of strategies for determining students' ideas about scientific concepts. Explains how the strategies may be used with special-needs students. (WRM)

Although neuroscience has much to offer teaching and learning conceptualizations, educators must be cautious about applying lab research to classrooms. Brain research seems hazy, confusing, and contradictory because it is new. Myths about synapses, low-stress learning, memorization, enrichment, and learning styles are debunked. (MLH)

Explores school districts' responses to state science standards and examines the ideas about science education that district policy makers construct from these standards. A cause of failing to implement state science standards, rarely examined in the literature, concerns the ways in which local implementers miss or misconstrue the intent of policy…

Describes a study of a range of challenging activities centered on evaporation and condensation done with elementary school children. Analyzes children's explanations in light of the existing literature. Finds that older children display a surer sense of ontological categories, greater epistemological sophistication, greater precision in language…

Describes children's conceptions of the structure and function of the human digestive system based on an investigation carried out with children aged 4-10 (n=45). Finds that children possess biological knowledge as an independent knowledge domain from the age of four. Discusses acquisition of and barriers to scientific concepts related to human…

Some serious difficulties that students have in understanding physical optics may be due in part to a lack of understanding of light as an electromagnetic wave. Describes the development and use of tutorials designed to address students' conceptual difficulties. (Contains over 15 references.) (Author/WRM)

Critiques the scientific merit of a claim against evolution that is based on a calculation of the level of salt in the oceans. (WRM)