Scientists often use more than the results of experiment to arrive at a result; they use anticipation and analogy to arrive at the results that fit their theories, and sometimes they correct results in the light of analogy. They also need to be clear about the difference between accuracy and precision. They do all this using not only theories, but…

An alternative conception for the observed differences in light bulb brightness was revealed during an unguided inquiry investigation in which prospective elementary teachers placed identical bulbs in series, parallel, and combination direct current circuits. Classroom observations, document analyses, and video and audio transcriptions led to the…

This paper presents an Internet-based open approach to laboratory instruction. In this article, the author talks about an open laboratory approach using a multi-user multi-device remote facility. This approach involves both the direct contact with the computer-controlled laboratory setup of interest with the students present in the laboratory…

Developmental psychologists have been interested in the cognitive ability of perspective-taking for a number of years due to the apparent link between perspective-taking deficits and Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Most of the research in this area has employed the concepts and techniques of the approach commonly referred to as "Theory of Mind." The…

Documenting treatment integrity is an important issue in research and practice in any discipline concerned with prevention and intervention. However, consensus concerning the dimensions of treatment integrity and how they should be measured has yet to emerge. Advances from three areas in which significant treatment integrity work has taken…

The purpose of this study is to first develop an 8-week college teaching module based on root competition literature. The split-root technique is adapted for the teaching laboratory, and the Sugar Ann English pea (Pisum sativum var. Sugar Ann English) is selected as the species of interest prior to designing experiments, either original or…

The Environmental Inquiry program supports inquiry based, student-centered science teaching on selected topics in the environmental sciences. Many teachers are unfamiliar with both the underlying science of toxicology, and the process and importance of peer review in scientific method. The protocol and peer review process was tested with college…

This work describes a framework that combines techniques from Adaptive Hypermedia and Natural Language processing in order to create, in a fully automated way, on-line information systems from linear texts in electronic format, such as textbooks. The process is divided into two steps: an "off-line" processing step, which analyses the source text,…

The laboratory-learning environment needs to become more exploratory and undergo a transformation from its traditional confirmatory role in the learning of science. This is necessary to effectively allow students to achieve scientific literacy. The availability of powerful tools for data collection and analysis provides an opportunity for students…

It seems hard to believe that Dolly the cloned sheep was born 10 years ago, kindling furious arguments over the prospects and ethics of cloning a human. Today, the controversy over cloning is entwined, often confused, with concerns over the use of human embryonic stem cells. Most people are unclear what cloning is, and they know even less when it…

This study presents an application of a measure of learner involvement developed by Paas, Tuovinen, van Merrienboer, and Darabi (2005). These authors combined learners' performance scores with their perceived mental effort invested in instruction and used it to assess learner involvement in instructional conditions. The present study examines the…

Today, undergraduate students enter college with increasingly more sophisticated computer skills compared to their counterparts of 20 years ago. However, many instructors are still using traditional instructional strategies to teach this new generation. This research study discusses a number of strategies that were employed to teach a…

This paper draws on earlier work on ideas that underpin the collection and use of evidence in science in schools. It establishes that different types of practical work share the same procedural underpinnings. It then takes the work of Toulmin on argumentation to suggest that the idea of the "public claim" can be used to forge a link…

Remote laboratories can provide distant learners with practical acquisitions which would otherwise remain precluded. Our proposal here is a remote laboratory on a behavioural test (open field test), with the aim of introducing learners to the observation and analysis of stereotyped behaviour in animals. A real-time video of a mouse in an…

Two of this article's authors--an art professor and a biology professor--shared a project for advanced biology, art, nursing, and computer science majors involving scientific research that used digital imaging of the brain of the zebrafish, a newly favored laboratory animal. These contemporary and innovative teaching and learning practices were a…