Discusses two educational issues: the constitutionality of competency-based education and the compatibility between this policy and contemporary scientific thought. The author presents her personal views on competency-based education and discusses the need for educational accountability on the part of teachers and other educational professionals.…

This article is a brief survey of alchemy since the chemical revolution. It shows that the reasonable expectation that alchemy could not survive the new chemistry is wrong, through a description of the work and beliefs of several prominent alchemists. (Author/DS)

Discusses some physical principals that can be used to understand the proper ties of Portland cement and concrete. (HM)

Discusses the existence of matter in smaller groups known as clusters. Applications of the findings in scientific studies are presented as they relate to technology. (SA)

Explores major expectations of Mach's principle concerning motions due to matter in the rest of the universe. (MLH)

Discusses theories about the possibility of the weakening or strengthening of the gravitational constant, and the cosmological effects of such a change. (MLH)

Reports on a study to elicit junior secondary students' understandings of the nature of science (NOS) through peer collaboration instruction based on science stories specifically developed to present several aspects of NOS. Investigates how students reacted to the stories and whether they were able to extract the aspects of NOS presented in the…

Describes a collaborative professional development program, Inquiry-Based Field Studies Involving Teacher-Scientist Collaboration, that uses scientist-teacher teams to improve teachers' understanding of scientific inquiry. Reports that the project allowed teachers to develop a deeper understanding on the nature of science. (Author/YDS)

Uses ideas about nature held by four high school science teachers to illustrate how any abstract notion of a scientific worldview does not adequately describe the perspectives of scientifically knowledgeable individuals such as competent secondary school science teachers. Effective science education helps students develop an understanding of…

Explores the relationships among teachers' beliefs about teaching science, learning science, and the nature of science. Investigates (n=37) Taiwanese science teachers' views on teaching, learning, and science and categorizes them into three groups--traditional, process, or constructivist. Identifies closely aligned beliefs as "nested…

Investigates the role of dissent in a community of university scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and social scientists engaged in a two-year professional development project on issues of equity and diversity. Focuses on professional development sessions devoted to a contentious yet integral topic in science education, the gendered and…

Science and technology are closely related yet one is an integral part of school science curricula and the other is not. Suggests that science teachers can introduce the role and importance of technology in science programs. (NB)

Describes several ways to partially levitate permanent magnets. Computes field line geometries and oscillation frequencies. Provides several diagrams illustrating the mechanism of the oscillation. (YP)

Shows how the thermal power developed by friction is exactly half the supplied power in the general case of a variable force of friction. Investigates the mechanism whereby one-half the input energy is dissipated as heat using mathematical expressions. (YP)

Describes three physics demonstrations: "Sticky Kinematics," dealing with motion in friction; "The Whistler," presenting a whistle-like sound of descending pitch from an iron spring; and "Magnetic Superconducter Mystery," generating a question why a magnet keeps spinning. (YP)