Using principal-components analysis, this paper highlights the nature of the alleged gap between new and older universities in the United Kingdom, as portrayed in recently published league tables. Although the tables may capture some recognized differences, they rank performance by limited criteria that favor the old university sector and fail to…

Measures both teaching efficacy and the holding of specific alternative conceptions of preservice elementary teachers (N=619). Uses a survey to determine the relationship between teaching efficacy and certain alternative conceptions. Contains 77 references. (DDR)

Discusses the basic features and goals of environmental education incorporated into curricula in Slovenia. Findings suggest that waste-processing products are not well known and that Slovene children should be taught about environmental problems that are part of everyday life. (DDR)

Examines the myth that Mexican American children have poor academic achievement because their parents don't value education. Focuses on the myth's origins in "deficit thinking" and concepts of "cultural deprivation" and "at-risk." Examines evidence to the contrary: Mexican Americans' long struggle for equal…

Asks whether what is taught in science class only makes sense to someone who already understands science. Discusses school science in terms of four questions: (1) What is to be taught?; (2) What conditions promote learning?; (3) What do students learn?; and (4) What are the cognitive processes in learners' minds? (Contains 17 references.)…

Discusses a study that revealed that science teachers, like their students, are capable of handling positive experimental results but fail to evaluate negative results appropriately. Describes a teaching strategy designed to help teachers develop an understanding of the concept of negative results and to apply the idea to different contexts.…

Four kinds of reputed evidence for semilingualism or limited bilingualism are rejected as spurious or irrelevant. An alternative explanation of school failure among language minority children focuses on the lack of first-language support and the absence of comprehensible instruction in content-area knowledge. Implications for bilingual education…

The purposes of this study were (a) to create and validate a scale measuring beliefs regarding dyslexia, (b) to use the scale to investigate the beliefs of educators regarding dyslexia, and (c) to recommend ways that educators can be better prepared to help students with dyslexia. Participants included university faculty as well as undergraduate…

This study examines Turkish pre-service science teachers' understanding of science concepts and their confidence in its teaching. A total of 299 senior science education major students participated in the study. Data collection instruments included the Science Concepts Test, and the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument. Although findings of…

Psychology students frequently have misconceptions of basic concepts in operant conditioning. Prior classroom observations revealed that most students defined positive reinforcement as reward and equated negative reinforcement and punishment. Students also labeled positive reinforcement as rewarding good behavior and negative reinforcement as…

This chapter examines community college baccalaureate programs and the controversy surrounding these programs. It also looks at models for the delivery of these baccalaureates, emphasizing their curricular focus in states and colleges across the nation. The chapter concludes with questions that should guide decision makers in enhancing student…

In this paper I ask how educational researchers can believe the subjective perceptions of qualitative participant-observers given the concern for objectivity and generalisability of experimental research in the behavioural and social sciences. I critique the most common answer to this question within the educational research community, which…

The purpose of this paper is to articulate a new perspective on British multi-faith religious education that both complements and, in part, subsumes existing critiques. My argument, while controversial, is straightforward: it is that British religious education has misrepresented the nature of religion in efforts to commend itself as contributing…

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to methodological discourse about research approaches to environmental education. More specifically, the paper explores the current status of the "empirical-analytical methodology" and its "positivist" (traditional- and post-positivist) ideologies, in environmental education research through the critical…

Plant tropisms--their directional movement in response to stimuli--are a fundamental concept in plant science and excite students because they are the observable signs of life in plants. Unfortunately, the precollege teaching literature is full of tropism misconceptions. An inexpensive clock clinostat is invaluable for student gravitropism and…