Reports on a study that constructs a Lakatosian teaching strategy that can facilitate conceptual change in students' understanding of chemical equilibrium. Results indicate that the experimental group performed better on tests. Contains 81 references. (DDR)

Quantifies beliefs of high school students about links between skin cancer and global environmental effects. Some students confused the action of heat rays with that of ultraviolet rays and also thought that raised temperatures are culpable. Only one in 10 held the scientifically correct model: that ozone depletion via higher penetration of…

Illustrates how a well-designed curriculum can lead students to construct an unwanted conception. Concludes that the conceptual-change-cum-discourse perspective has the potential to integrate the affordances of both methodological approaches and past empirical accomplishments. Contains 33 references. (DDR)

Suggests that misconceptions about natural selection arise from mistaken categorization. Proposes that students often fail to understand the ontological features of equilibrium processes. Contains 32 references. (DDR)

Argues for an expanded role for the concept of emergent levels in science education. Cites confusion of levels and slippage between levels as the source of many people's misunderstandings about patterns and phenomena. Contains 35 references. (DDR)

Uses a free-form questionnaire to explore 10- and 11-year-old students' ideas about the nature of air pollution and its biological and physical effects. Suggests that students hold misconceptions in this area. (DDR)

Examines the effectiveness of an analogy activity designed to overcome junior high school students' misconceptions about the microscopic views of phase change. Uses an analogy activity presented in the form of role playing in which students act as particles. Contains 32 references. (DDR)

Baker and Riordan express disappointment with Father Greeley's sharp comments concerning their September 1998 "Kappan" article. Their major point was that 1990s Catholic schools are no longer educating the disadvantaged, due to changing demographics. Father Greeley's second rebuttal deplores Baker and Riordan's gratuitous scholarship and…

A 1997 report by Public Agenda, a nonpartisan public-opinion research firm, confirmed that educators deplore the quality of press coverage of public education. While questioning journalistic effectiveness and credibility, the study offers objective insights about citizens' expectations. Superintendents must communicate concerns to editors and…

A study of computer access in 85 Florida and Georgia secondary classrooms showed that the disparity between reform rhetoric and reality is staggering. There are precious few computers accessible to students, fewer Internet-ready computers, and large numbers of teachers who had never been trained to log on. (11 References) (MLH)

Professor Willower complains about the "fog" encountered in postmodernist literature and the author's two articles in "Journal of School Leadership." On closer examination, this miasma is simply the mildew on Willower's Cartesian glasses. Educational administration continues to substitute management and business fads for any…

School-bashers bemoaning declining SAT scores since 1967 do not consider the greater numbers of students now taking these tests. Some parents believe children are overtested. Teachers generally are well prepared, and administration is not top-heavy. Business is faster, but not necessarily more efficient than education. (MLH)

Discusses a college science course designed for juniors and seniors who are going to be elementary teachers. Focuses on hands-on activities, understanding the nature of science, and conducting scientific research. Explores student misconceptions and conceptual changes on elementary science subjects. (YDS)

Establishes a relationship between students' understanding of gases and its parallels in the history of science. Finds that college freshman students' alternative conceptions about gas behavior are resistant to change and recapitulate theories scientists held in the past, such as the Lattice Theory of Gases. (Contains 52 references.) (Author/WRM)

Reports on a long-term, large-scale study of a one-semester, conceptually-based, introductory astronomy course with data from more than 400 students over three semesters at the University of New Mexico. Finds that novice students show large, positive gains on assessments of conceptual understanding and connected understanding of the knowledge…