Designed for middle school science and social studies classes, this document is a curriculum on waste disposal. Mathematics and language skills also are incorporated into many of the activities. In the study of trash disposal, science students benefit from understanding the social issues related to the problem. Social studies students need…

The ways in which Digital Video Interactive (DVI), a new video technology, can help students learn concepts of physics were studied in a project that included software design and production as well as formative and summative evaluation. DVI provides real-time motion, with the full-motion image contained to a window on part of the screen so that…

A survey was administered to 10th-grade regular biology students to diagnose the cause for low achievement on chapter tests. Survey results verified teacher suspicion that students did not read textbook assignments when designated as homework and, as a consequence, this deficiency contributed to low achievement scores. A treatment included…

This journal issue is devoted to the theme topic "Rural Education." The first article, "Science is Everywhere," by Chris Taylor, presents a project which uses local experts as an integral part of the school's science curriculum. "Better Teachers, Better Readers" by Scott Steen describes a system of strategic reading used in rural Wisconsin school…

This study investigated the effect of informational, drill, and game format computer-assisted instruction (CAI) on the achievement, retention, and attitude toward instruction of sixth-grade science students (N=37). An informational CAI lesson on Halley's Comet was administered to three randomly selected groups of sixth-grade students. A CAI drill…

This paper describes the development and implementation of a project to prepare science support teachers to work in four junior high schools in Toledo, Ohio. The project was collaboratively developed by the Institute for Research on Teaching at Michigan State University, the Toledo school district, and the American Federation of Teachers. The…

This paper explores a teacher's perspective of what successful science instruction is and how these perspectives influence classroom instruction. The data sources for this study include 35 classroom observations and approximately 25 hours of interviews collected over a period of 2 years of a single high school chemistry teacher. During class,…

Prepared by energy experts and educators to introduce middle school and high school students to natural gas and its role in our society, this kit is designed to be incorporated into existing science and social studies curricula. The materials and activities focus on the origin, discovery, production, delivery, and use of natural gas. The role of…

The projection of shadows task developed by Inhelder and Piaget was used to identify error patterns and solution strategies used by diverse populations in a sequence of proportion tasks. In Study A, two group tests were administered to 607 students from science and mathematics classes in grades 9 and 10. A sub-sample of 69 students was involved in…

The Science Teacher Inventory of Need (STIN) is an 83-item instrument which assesses science teachers' perceptions of their professional needs. Items on the STIN are organized under seven categories: (1) specifying objectives for science instruction; (2) diagnosing and evaluating learners for science instruction; (3) planning science instruction;…

The Massachusetts Board of Education recently adopted a 5-year plan to assist Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in the curriculum areas of reading, writing, arithmetic, science, and computer literacy. However, reduction in funds and staff at the LEA level has decreased the ability of local programs to implement marketing and assistance. This manual,…

This manual presents a design for teaching science principles and mathematics concepts through a sequence of activities concentrating on weather, solar food dryers, and nutrition. Part I focuses on the effect of solar energy on air and water, examining the concepts of evaporation, condensation, radiation, conduction, and convection. These concepts…

Several central ideas emerging from a systematic approach to teaching problem-solving in the quantitative sciences (chemistry, physics, engineering) are discussed. Areas addressed include: differences between teaching and performance, between naturalistic and effective functioning, and between detailed observations and gross statistical data;…

Studies have shown that students, after having studied physics concepts and being familiar with them for an appreciable time, may nevertheless lack the ancillary knowledge needed to use such concepts reliably; correspondingly, they exhibit major misconceptions and errors. Provided in this paper is an analysis of the ancillary knowledge required to…

The hypothesis as to the atomic structure of any given substance is introduced in many physics and chemistry textbooks by conveying the idea of repetitive division of a given amount of substance, for example, by grinding, dissolving, or evaporating. The rationale for this approach is the assumption of students inferring that this process of…