This document is the first of three volumes of the proceedings of an international seminar which focused on student misconceptions in science and mathematics as well as teaching strategies intended to deal with those misconceptions. An introduction to the volume explains the format of the conference and the organization of the sessions. It…

The effectiveness of teaching academic courses such as mathematics and science in a foreign language has been investigated by several international studies in the literature. Even though the studies conducted have brought up contradictory results, most of them reveal that learning academic courses through a foreign language medium may pose…

Focuses on public education about the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic. Discusses the problems of a second epidemic of fear and anxiety. Presents several questions for classroom discussion and analysis of the public fear of AIDS. Gives some statistics highlighting misinformation about AIDS. (CW)

Interviews Wisconsin high school economics teachers, cited for their teaching excellence, to discover methods used to correct students' misconceptions about economics. Covers opportunity cost, supply and demand, money creation, and gross national product. Finds teachers were adept at using germane examples, showed more confidence teaching…

Evaluates the effectiveness of a course using a constructivist approach in reducing Dutch secondary school students (n=190) misconceptions about force. Concluded that the lessons were effective in changing students' ideas in regard to forces in rest situations and frictional forces and that learning effects were equally distributed over student…

Contrary to critics' claims, the United States could not boast the world's finest higher-education system while maintaining a deficient public-school system. Unregulated, profit-oriented market models are inappropriate for public schools responsible for serving the social good. Privatization and techno-efficiency pressures are equally…

This article describes how workshop sessions have attempted to help teachers from one curriculum area develop their diagnostic skills to use in assessment for learning. The approach uses the metaphor of the teacher-as-learning-doctor to encourage teachers to think about the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of learning "bugs". The…

This essay compares two curricular treatments of the Holocaust, one that resulted from a full-semester, 10th grade elective course taught at a public high school, the second constructed through a quarter-long, 8th grade unit taught at a charismatic, evangelical, fundamentalist Christian private school. In brief, the study examines the Holocaust's…

This study examines the relationship between children's procedural and conceptual understanding of mathematics and their accuracy in reporting and interpreting geography text material containing mathematical information. It was hypothesized that (1) children's misconceptions or lack of experience with particular mathematical content areas would be…

More than three-fourths of students starting at four-year institutions earn a bachelor's degree or are still enrolled six years later. Of students who started at a public two-year institution, more than half earned some kind of degree or were still enrolled. At the same time, certain students are at particular risk of dropping out, and there are…

Describes a followup study to previous research into midcareer educators' tendencies to label older colleagues as resisters to Oregon schools' restructuring efforts. Results show that such attitudes stigmatize individuals and inhibit their responses in ways that hamper the change process. More respect for lifelong professional learning is needed.…

Just-in-Time Teaching (ITT) is a teaching and learning approach that combines the best features of traditional in-class instruction with the communication and resource potential available via the Web. We describe here how ITT can be used to teach biology to undergraduate and graduate level students, both science majors as well as non science…

This report examines the types of professional development necessary to implement successful online learning initiatives. The potential for schools utilizing online learning is tremendous: schools can develop new distribution methods to enable equity and access for all students, they can provide high quality content for all students and they can…

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics encourages the use of calculators in the classroom as a teaching and learning tool, as well as a computational tool. This paper evaluates the impact on teachers' approaches to teaching mathematics and students' attitudes toward mathematics as the result of participation in an in-service program…

This paper discusses some misconceptions about Asian American elementary school and secondary school students, and describes ways of building effective communication with the families of these students. The essay begins by noting the stereotyping of Asian American students as "whiz kids" and discussing the damaging effect of that…