The Systems Thinking and Curriculum Innovation (STACI) Project is a multi-year research effort intended to examine the cognitive demands and consequences of learning from a systems thinking approach to instruction and from using simulation-modeling software. The purpose of the study is to test the potentials and effects of integrating the systems…

Science Unlimited (Pennsylvania Department of Education's elementary science effort) has developed a series of television programs for use in the primary and intermediate grades. These television programs form an integral part of science lessons which emphasize direct involvement of children with materials and ideas, provide for individual and…

The collection of instructional plans is designed to offer samples of strategies and ideas to teachers involved with gifted students. Approximately 30 plans are presented for the following areas (sample subtopics in science (atomic fusion), social studies (mores and folkways), mathematics (spatial relations), health and physiology, philosophy, and…

This paper considers the integration of reading and writing into elementary science teaching by way of the implications of two leading theories pertaining to literacy: metacognitive theory and whole language theory. Discussion of the implications of metacognition includes attention to the issue of helping to overcome readers' nonscientific…

Provided are Tennessee's state kindergarten curriculum guides in the 6 areas of health, social studies, language arts, science, physical education, and mathematics. The health curriculum guide centers on developing and maintaining good health. The social studies guide aids children in understanding self as an individual and in relation to other…

Analogy is widely considered to be an important mechanism of scientific thinking and a source of creative insight in theory development. In this paper the implicit constraints that determine analogical soundness are considered. It first examines the constraints that govern analogical reasoning as it is predicted today. The scientific uses of…

This guide describes an introductory course on technology designed for the secondary schools of New Jersey that was developed to provide students with their first formal experience in a technology program. Part 1 provides educators with a broad overview of the course, as well as a detailed description of the course content. The course consists of…

This document describes the curriculum model developed by the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES). The FES Model is based on connected concepts of "environment" and "study." In this approach "environmental" not only is the focus of what is to be studied but also describes the experiential way in which the study is…

This paper considers the term "authentic science" and its meaning with respect to science education. In particular, three relevant denotations of authenticity are applied to nine facets of science. These facets include methodological and epistemological aspects of science, personal, private, public, historical, societal and technological…

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) has assembled this collection of reprints to assist teachers in organizing a science fair, working with students and establishing equitable judging procedures. The NSTA position statement on science fairs is included. The 19 reprints in this volume are geared toward secondary school students and are…

This paper posits a cognitive model for understanding and learning physics that is an alternative to the formal deductive system. Recent findings of Fuller, Karplus, Lawson, and others are cited in arguing against using a formal deductive approach to teaching physics. The model demonstrates types of action-oriented knowledge structures as they…

This document characterizes South African education as resulting in large numbers of students who are poorly equipped to meet academic requirements of first-year university courses, especially in science related disciplines. It reports on a study designed to investigate the learning problems of disadvantaged South Africans in an attempt to…

The goals of liberal education are to deepen the understanding of the nature of humankind and of the human condition. In the last half century, fundamental changes have occurred in perceptions of how the human species relates to the rest of the universe, due to developments in science and the creation of the cognitive sciences. There is now the…

The purpose of this study was to explore how the needs, actions, and beliefs of teacher and students interact with the constraints of the classroom and the curriculum to establish an atmosphere conducive to effective learning of physics in grade 11. An interpretive research methodology was used to investigate the students' and teachers' needs,…

The Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS), with support from the National Science Foundation, is conducting a three-year project to develop a model for implementing educational computing in school science. This paper explains the tentative model in detail and presents the results of a pilot test of the model, which project staff conducted…