Concept-map construction was tested as a means of increasing the conceptual learning of first-year, non-major college chemistry students (n=32). No significant differences between the control (essay-writing) and treatment (concept-map-constructing) groups were found on post-lab multiple-choice achievement tests. Interviews with students indicated…

Presents the result of an empirical study on the reception and effectiveness of historical material being included in the physics program of a Swiss high school. (Author/NB)

Describes an experiment in which students work together in small groups, take data, and make a calculation to roughly determine the diameter of the blind spot in their eye. (WRM)

Presents a biology laboratory experiment designed to examine the ability of fish to improve their foraging rate with experience. This project is appropriate for ecology and animal behavior courses as well as introductory biology courses with a component that provides students with experience in designing and conducting scientific experiments.…

Describes an educational project primarily aimed at teachers and 15 to 18-year-old students that describes the essential features of a modern high-energy physics experiment. (Author/CCM)

Describes a laboratory activity in which students speculate about the extent to which Galileo actually performed an experiment to determine that all pendulums of a given length have the same period, independent of amplitude. (WRM)

Describes an experimental procedure that can be used to determine the potential bacterial contamination of stagnant water in emergency laboratory eyewash bottles. Contains 11 references. (WRM)

Explains how a school developed a model for ensuring progression in experimental and investigative science. Provides progression steps and examples of models. (CCM)

Examines the impact of the national curriculum on secondary school science teachers' work in England and Wales. Finds that, in a significant number of schools, less time is spent on practical activities in the laboratory and students are presented with a narrower range of laboratory activities. Concludes that many teachers judge the national…

Suggests that scientific thought experiments (TEs) draw upon three epistemological resources: conceptual-logical inferences, visual imagery, and bodily-motor experience. Argues that TEs are powerful because of students' thought capabilities related to imagination and visual imagery. Claims that TEs are not currently exploited by school learning…

Describes experiments with electrostatics that are convenient for classroom demonstrations or laboratory activities. These experiments use a Kelvin balance and a relatively inexpensive electronic scale with 0.01-g sensitivity and essentially stationary pans. (WRM)

Saccharomyces cerevisiae provides an excellent tool for students to enter into inquiry-based science. This very simple organism is used to demonstrate that the principles governing life apply to all organisms. Students learn to design experiments using trypan blue and heat, build upon their findings with new experiments, and refine and repeat…

Outlines a course based on a series of experiments in which students are introduced to the behavior of electrical components without any references to Ohm's law. Argues that this approach has advantages over the traditional presentation. (DDR)

Describes the redesign of the first semester general chemistry laboratory at the college level. An organic component is included in the redesign and it provides students with explicit examples of several types of operations in which chemists engage. Contains 16 references. (DDR)

Introduces an investigative microbiology laboratory activity emphasizing critical thinking and experimental design in which students isolate and characterize a bacterium from a specific habitat. Explains the procedures of the laboratory including safety, sample collection, and isolation. (YDS)