The purpose of this study was to describe and interpret teacher decision-making with ethnically diverse students. A new paradigmatic theoretical framework formed through the confluence of constructivism, multiculturalism, the teacher-as-decision-maker, and semiology guided the research. The research site was a suburban middle school located in the…

Seymour Papert, who holds the Lego Chair for Learning Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, looks back over a decade during which American schools acquired more than three million computers and assesses progress and resistance to progress. Stories about visionary teachers who have used computers to enrich learning provide a…

This paper reports on a project involving the development and formative evaluation of an interactive World Wide Web-based learning tool. The interactive graphing tool (IGT) permits students to sketch a graph on screen using a mouse and responds to a wide range of common graph types. The IGT facilitates an iterative approach to understanding…

This guide is intended to help teachers plan, design, and implement science activities for students learning English as a Second Language (ESL) in grades 4-8, in mainstream science classes, ESL classes, bilingual education programs, and also to help others serving this population. Steps for designing science experiments that integrate language and…

This annual publication contains 43 research papers on a variety of issues related to science education. Topics include the following: mature-age students; teacher professional development; spreadsheets and science instruction; the Learning in Science Project and putting it into practice; science discipline knowledge in primary teacher education;…

Comet chronicles and stories extend back over thousands of years. A common theme has been that comets are a major cause of catastrophe and tragedy here on earth. In addition, both Aristotle and Ptolemy believed that comets were phenomena within the earth's atmosphere, and it wasn't until the 16th century, when Danish astronomer Tycho Brache…

The under-representation of women and African Americans in engineering spurred the research documented in this study. This document reports the reults of a study investigating middle school (in a southeastern rural community) children's attitudes toward persistence, life goals and sex-stereotypes, as potential barriers to their pursuit of…

The science-technology-society (STS) movement is emerging at the collegiate level. In elementary and secondary school science, social studies, and industrial arts classes, there is a growing awareness of the need for students to learn about technology and the methods by which it can be directed, made more appropriate, and controlled. This issue of…

This brochure, one in a series of four, is designed to assist people working in schools and in the community as they work together to encourage girls in mathematics, science, and engineering. Six sections discuss the reasons for and ways to work together to make changes. The first section describes what special programs can offer schools, and…

This paper examines discourse among fifth-grade students in a science classroom. The authors assess students' participation in small-group activities by focusing on their roles during conversation. The issue of gender equity is raised as an important question to be addressed by teachers, students and researchers in the context of science…

This manual describes, in both Spanish and English, activities used in a high school equivalency course for Spanish-speaking adolescent mothers and pregnant adolescents. It contains 13 writing activities, one integrated social studies/science activity, five social studies exercises, and one math and three reading/writing activities. Each is…

This document consists of four years (40 issues) of a newsletter devoted to computers in life science education. Titles of major articles in this collection include: (1) "Good Versus Bad Software: What Makes the Difference?" (G. Kearsly); (2) "Linkway: Hypermedia for IBM Personal Computers" (L. Kheriaty); (3) "Where's the…

This booklet reports the results of a recent National Science Foundation study of the impact of mandated testing programs on curriculum and instruction in elementary and secondary mathematics and science education, especially the impact on teachers with large percentages of minority students. The study included three strands: (1) an item-by-item…

The technical reports and working papers published by the Center for Children and Technology that are listed in this guide focus on educational technology and its relationship to student learning and school restructuring. Technical reports share research results, describe prototype designs, and address issues crucial to the Center's research…

This manual is designed to help agricultural education students and teachers to apply scientific facts and principles to problem-solving procedures in determining nutritious and economical livestock feeding programs. The manual provides applied scientific activities in biological science and chemistry, mathematics, and communication skills. It…