The Science Belief Test is an online instrument comprised of 47 statements that require true or false responses and request written explanations to accompany these responses. It targets topics in chemistry, physics, biology, earth science, and astronomy and was initially designed to assess preservice elementary teachers' beliefs about general…

Looking after pets provides several benefits in terms of children's social interactions, and factual and conceptual knowledge about these animals. In this study we investigated effects of rearing experiences on children's factual knowledge and alternative conceptions about animals. Data obtained from 1,541 children and 7,705 drawings showed very…

Pragmatics is included in one of four communicative competences (Canale, 1980). It is necessary and important to teach pragmatics at school in our globalized world in order to avoid as much as misunderstanding, which is likely to stem from cultural difference. As a result, greater importance should be attached to diverse customs and pragmatics.…

The shadow cast by HIV reaches beyond individuals diagnosed with the condition. It touches the lives of family members, friends, coworkers, and many others. One group in particular that feels these effects keenly is the children of HIV-positive parents. With improved treatments that have extended the life expectancies of HIV-infected people and…

This is a case of one novice White teacher whose strong commitment to becoming a culturally relevant teacher was hindered by her struggle to develop meaningful connections to the home community of her mostly African American students. Using a hybrid methodology of action research, discourse analysis, and critical interpretive analysis of…

This study investigated children's knowledge of division and its relationship to their teacher's conceptual understanding of division following Professional Development. A paper and pencil test was administered to 47 year 7 students and 2 teachers over 2 phases. Following the testing, six students and the teacher from each phase were interviewed.…

The purpose of this paper is to propose a matrix of attributes that characterize various alternative conceptions across the content areas, or domains, of science. It reports the results of testing the matrix on reported alternative conceptions by scoring their attributes and looking for trends in various domains. The authors found that some…

Most users have misconceptions about how the Internet works. Provides a brief history of the Internet and Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP); discusses electronic mail, privacy, and voluntary and involuntary information gathering; and contrasts the Internet and libraries, focusing on the Internet's lack of consistent…

Investigates the conceptions and representations of light propagation, image formation, and sight typical to preinstruction learners (N=139). Findings indicate that preinstructional students display some familiarity with optical systems, light propagation, and illumination patterns and have not developed a consistent descriptive and explanatory…

Reviews research about a profound misconception among college students: the belief that the process of vision includes emanations from their ideas. Documents the strength and breadth of this phenomenon and the failure of traditional educational techniques to overcome this belief. Asserts that students are leaving psychology courses with flawed…

Resistance to self-direction in learning often results from misconception: self-direction is all or nothing, implies learning in isolation, is a fad, is not worth the time, is an easy way out for teachers, and is the one best way for adults. The relationship of self-directed learning to humanist concepts also gives rise to resistance. (SK)

Exposes misperceptions of the nature and usefulness of theory and explains benefits for practice of generalizability and testability. Guides practitioners through application of theory to each stage of intervention or program development. (SK)

To increase multicultural awareness, Portland (Oregon) Public Schools have commissioned "Baseline Essays," series of texts describing a specific geocultural group's history, culture, and contributions. "Baseline Essay on Science" claims that basic ideas in modern science were anticipated and formulated by the ancient Egyptians…

Finds from textbook review that the value of 'g' should be described as the strength of the gravitational field rather than as acceleration. (CCM)

Discusses the importance of technological literacy for the 21st century. Points out that, of the top 100 headlines of the 20th century, over 40 percent were related to technology, yet many people have an outdated notion of what technology really is. Discusses the need for standards of technological literacy. (JOW)