The National Science Education Standards (NRC 1996) recognize the efficacy of teaching science within the context of history, emphasizing the evolution of concepts, models, and theories. By studying science in a historical context, students view themselves less as spectators and more as participants in this human quest for truth and understanding.…

We describe our experience in building a remote laboratory for teaching magnetic domains. Fulfilling the proposed on-line experiments, students can observe and study magnetization processes that are often difficult to explain with written material. It is proposed that networks of remotely accessible laboratories could be integrated in the Global…

In studying young children learning in inclusive environments, we designed ways to enable children to explore scientific knowledge that is usually believed to require later didactic teaching. Aspects of this design under scrutiny here are, first, the capacity of natural learning to lead to effective scientific ideas, and second, further…

This paper reviews recent literature in order to identify factors affecting student performance in introductory high school and college physics courses. An important factor identified was formation of cognitive structures such as formation of problem solving schemata. It was concluded that Piagetian concepts such as concrete and abstract reasoning…

This book contains hands-on science laboratory activities for grades 4 through 9 that use discrepant events to challenge students. All of the "puzzlers" are based upon science principles and include directions for building gadgets that explain the "puzzlers." Topics covered include: volume conservation, magnetic phenomena,…

This booklet contains project-oriented lessons and hands-on activities developed to integrate steel recycling, natural resource conservation, and solid waster management into science learning. Each lesson is presented in capsule form in an introductory section called, "Lessons at a Glance." The first lesson, "Supply &…

This book is divided into chapters based on the general subjects of mechanics, air power, water power, electricity and magnetism, chemistry, acoustics, and optics. Each chapter includes groups of projects designed to teach specific scientific ideas within the general subject. Some projects include a section that allows students to try different…

The National Survey of Academic Research Instruments and Instrumentation Needs is a congressionally mandated program that collects data concerning scientific research instruments and the academic departments and facilities in which they are located. This report analyzes overall instrumentation issues and trends in all the fields covered by the…

In this study, a conceptual change model serves as a theoretical underpinning for analyzing what might count as evidence of conceptual change. Theoretical components of the conceptual change model include the status a conception has for learners, and the conceptual ecology of knowledge within which conceptions are believed to survive and have…

This paper describes fourth-year outcomes (1993-94) of the Boeing Company-funded Applied Academics Project. Since the 1990-91 school year, the company has provided funds to improve and expand applied academics in 60 Washington high schools. Data were collected from pre- and post-surveys of students enrolled in the project's Applied Mathematics…

A microgravity environment is one that will impart to an object a net acceleration that is small compared with that produced by Earth at its surface. In practice, such acceleration will range from about one percent of Earth's gravitational acceleration to better than one part in a million. this teacher's guide presents an introduction to…

This research study focused on the knowledge structure of the domain of physics by describing the knowledge of experts, intermediates, and novices. In order to investigate these representations, a reiterative categorization task was employed using novice, intermediate, and expert subjects (N=27). The categories were classified as theory-, model-,…

AstroCappella combines the love of music with the love of astronomy. The booklet contains hands-on activities that can be done in the classroom coupled with rocking, high-energy, professionally recorded and produced songs written and performed by an established vocal band. The lesson plans help students learn how convection works, how radio…

This paper explores the effects of infusing writing-to-learn strategies into an inquiry-oriented science unit on simple machines, inventions and inventors. This study used an intact group pretest and posttest design to capture the ecological validity of a classroom of grade 4 students and teacher. The design incorporated quantitative research…

Small-group cooperative learning was integrated into a physics class to alter the traditional lecture/laboratory format of the course and to provide support for students' feelings of helplessness and isolation in studying physics. At weekly meetings, groups of 4-6 students met to solve physics homework problems assigned during the traditional…