Traditionally science clubs have been seen as a lunchtime or after-school activity, run by volunteer teachers giving up their spare time. Increasingly, however, they are being used creatively as a way of delivering important curriculum enhancement activities or even as a vehicle for the science part of whole-school priorities such as working with…

"Let's Think!" is a cognitive acceleration programme aimed at developing thinking in children aged between 5 and 6. "Let's Think!" was described in "PSR" 69 (Robertson, 2001) using the acronym CASE @ KS1, as it was known before publication by NFER-Nelson. Since then, "Let's Think!" has spread beyond the…

Primary science has rightly been recognised as one of the great successes in UK education over the last 20 years--a jewel in the National Curriculum crown. Its successes are evidenced by the high numbers of pupils achieving the target levels in national tests and by the rising number of science lessons rated as good or better in school inspections…

Pitfall trap sampling of Carabid beetle species on roundabouts in Bracknell, Berkshire, was used to assess the biodiversity of this taxon by its use as an indicator. The aim of the study was to discover the role of traffic islands in the provision of refugia for invertebrate fauna in fragmented urban habitats. Sampling was performed on 15…

Of all the sciences, biology has probably made the most rapid progress in recent years and the need for this to be reflected in a new Advanced Level biology course has long been recognised in the UK. After wide-ranging consultation and successful piloting in over 50 schools and colleges in England and Wales, the new Salters-Nuffield Advanced…

Adopting the concept that "decisions can be seen as argument-driven actions," the purpose of this study was to apply the argumentation structure raised by Stephen Toulmin (1958) to capture two science teachers' instructional decision-making mechanisms in their teaching practices. The two case teachers were chosen because of their close…

This article provides a model for the professional development of elementary science teachers. The model focused on integrating different domains of knowledge into science teaching, including the knowledge of the science curriculum, especially scientific inquiry, teacher's knowledge, and students' knowledge. The two case studies in this article…

When we refer to scientific knowledge, we, implicitly or explicitly, refer to its three components, namely its conceptual framework, its methodological principles and its cultural aspects. The pendulum is a topic of science teaching and learning where all three of these aspects can be examined with the aim of gaining a holistic appreciation of the…

Many varieties of data acquisition systems are now available for science classrooms. Most systems consist of a range of sensors--typically called probeware--connected to an interface unit usually described as a datalogger due to its capacity to record data from these sensors. Although some systems operate independently, most units connect to a…

The development of new courses is strengthened by assessment and a response to the assessment. Two new science methods courses for elementary and secondary preservice teachers were developed, fostered by the Great Salt Lake Project. The preservice teachers designed and performed research projects that they then converted into inquiry-based…

This paper tests the utility of a new sociocognitive frame for analysing the development of teachers' knowledge--the knowledge integration perspective (Linn, Eylon, & Davis, in press; Linn & Hsi, 2000). In doing so, the paper describes one prospective elementary teacher's developing knowledge and highlights its complexity. The prospective teacher…

This article discusses the results of a qualitative study, based on case studies, aimed at: (a) assessing a group of Portuguese secondary school natural science teachers regarding their conceptions of the nature, teaching and learning of science; (b) studying possible impacts of recent controversies surrounding scientific and technological issues…

An elementary version of the "Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction" (QTI) and a scale for determining students' "Enjoyment of their Science Lessons" (ENJ) were translated into Standard Malay. This process, together with its initial validation carried out in 136 classrooms with 3,104 students, is described in this paper.…

Although electromagnetism is an important component of upper secondary school physics syllabuses in many countries, there has been relatively little research on students' understanding of the topic. A written test consisting of 16 diagnostic questions was developed and used to survey the understanding of electromagnetism of upper secondary school…

A study was made of the ability of a population of high-school physics teachers to define physics concepts and of their views regarding the importance of such definitions. It was found possible to arrange the definitions accumulated in categories, and the classification so obtained was consonant with that of the philosophy of science. Although the…