We present a simple laboratory activity for introductory-level physics students which involves rolling balls down pipes and analysing their subsequent flight trajectories. Using balls of equal size but different mass allows students to confront their misconceptions of a mass dependence of the exit speed of the balls from the pipes. The concepts of…

Recently, "Developmental Psychology" published 2 articles on the shape bias; both rejected the authors' previous proposals about the role of attentional learning in the development of a shape bias in object name learning. A. Cimpian and E. Markman (2005; see record EJ733667) did so by arguing that the shape bias does not exist but is an…

"SAMHSA News" is the national newsletter of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Published six times a year (bimonthly) by SAMHSA's Office of Communications, SAMHSA News contains information about the latest substance abuse and mental health treatment and prevention practices, recent statistics on mental health and…

On September 23, 2008, Latino state legislators from throughout the United States participated in a Legislative Hearing on Pre-K and the Early Grades on Capitol Hill. The nation's leading experts on Latinos and early childhood education presented new research and information on programs and policies that work. Their testimony provided an in-depth…

The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (BPP) is an internationally recognized school-based bullying prevention program. This project sought to evaluate pilot implementation of the program in one urban district using fidelity of implementation, bullying incident density (BID), student surveys, and serious incident reports as process and outcome…

It is widely recognized that the current and projected shortage of adequately-educated IT professionals could be greatly reduced if more female and minority students would major in IT disciplines, yet the dramatic under-representation of these populations appears to be worsening. This under-representation is reflected in Drexel University's…

There has been a broad wave of change in tertiary calculus courses in the past decade. However, the much-needed change in tertiary pre-calculus programmes--aimed at bridging the gap between high-school mathematics and tertiary mathematics--is happening at a far slower pace. Following a discussion on the nature of the gap and the objectives of a…

Research suggests that low-income high school students may opt out of preparing for college, because they believe a postsecondary education is more than they or their parents can afford. At the same time, federal agencies and some state agencies have indicated that every year available student aid goes unused. In response to these misconceptions…

The purpose of this study was to report the results of a nationwide survey of Taiwanese high schools students' understandings about electric circuits. The study involved two stratified random samples consisting of 7,145 students in Grades 8 and 9, and 2,857 students in Grade 11, accounting for about 2.3% of the total enrolment in the corresponding…

Textbooks for GCE Advanced Level Biology have provided over-simplified and inaccurate accounts of Charles Darwin's contribution to the study of evolution over a period of many decades. They have credited him with field skills and insight that he did not possess, and repeated several historical inaccuracies. Darwin's strength was as a synthesiser…

Researchers have found that despite reformers' best efforts, teachers' mathematics classroom practice remains largely unchanged--in part because teachers hold fast to their own mathematics understandings, attitudes, and experiences. In particular, in the last decade, elementary mathematics teachers have found themselves balancing a number of…

One of ACTE's goals is to improve the image of career and technical education (CTE) through outreach to the media. As media relations manager, the author receives calls from reporters asking questions about the types of students who participate in CTE. Reporters often have a misconception that CTE students are troubled or "at the bottom of the…

The stereotype has it that native French Speakers are annoyed by foreign Speakers' errors in pronunciation. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess beliefs about the importance of accurate pronunciation in French held by three afferent groups: (1) 73 second- and third-semester students of French at a large midwestern research university in…

This article explores eight rural middle-school girls' perceptions of connections with their teachers. It rests on the finding that teachers offer a vital source of support for adolescent girls living in rural communities as girls come to a critical juncture in the development of their identities. Drawing on ethnographic and narrative data, I…

This study examined whether the use of a norms-based simulation in a communication class can influence students' misperceptions about college drinking. Participants (N = 462) were enrolled in two undergraduate communication courses: one in which the simulation was used and another that served as a control. Results indicated that participating in…