This document is a practicum designed to respond to concerns from both parents and staff about the duplication of instructional topics or themes in more than one grade, while other topics were not covered at all. The development of a predictable core curriculum framework for grades K-5 was one of several goals of this project to provide a…

Reflection is a key aspect of the practicum experience for preservice teachers at the University of Central Queensland (Australia). However, ensuring that reflection occurs has been somewhat problematic. A study was conducted to explore how theoretical constructs based on learning theory can be used to guide the function of the practicum and the…

This study focused on teachers' academic preparation for teaching science and mathematics, as measured by the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) which collected data for a nationally representative sample of 26,435 8th-grade students clustered within 1,052 schools. The relationship between teachers' academic preparation, their…

This document concerns what teachers learned from students responses to the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) tests in 1995. Teacher responses and comments are presented in the following categories: (1) "Look How Far We've Come!" (identifies areas of improvement in student performance); (2) "Perceptions"…

This document of conference proceedings is divided into five sections. The first, STS (Science Technology and Society) Studies, contains five papers: (1) "Scientific Discourse and Public Policy" (Jane C. Webb; George R. Webb; Charolette Webb); (2) "An Answer to Neil Postman's 'Technopoly'" (David K. Nations); (3)…

Students can make authentic contributions to the World Wide Web (WWW) and learn critical evaluation skills by publishing reviews of WWW resources. A project which served as a pilot study was implemented where high school students wrote and published reviews of resources they used as part of an inquiry-based science curriculum. Students were…

This manual is an overview of the science curriculum intervention that occurred in a federally funded project to identify and serve the needs of gifted and talented economically disadvantaged students (grades 3-8) from minority populations. An introduction discusses the training in curriculum development and methodology, based on Bloom's Taxonomy…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction of male and female students with teachers in low-achieving (LAC) and high-achieving (HAC) middle school biology classes. Forty-six students from HAC and 44 students from LAC were observed during a semester for their interaction with their teacher. Findings indicate that males received…

This study focused on the roles facilitators and students play in high school distance education classes, how these roles affect student performance, and other factors (such as school organization) which affect facilitator and student performance. Three classrooms from three different high schools, each taking the same nationally-offered distance…

The purpose of this paper is to argue that, given the role science and technology play in economic and social development in today's world, scientific and technological literacy must be given priority as an essential component of basic education. This paper begins by presenting some of the dilemmas posed by the role science technology plays in our…

As part of an ongoing study of the content knowledge, instructional beliefs, and instructional practices of middle school, high school, and college science teachers, the hypothesis that there are systematic differences across academic levels in these teachers' conceptual understanding of the same content-specific subjects was studied. Eight middle…

This annotated bibliography contains selected children's science trade books published in 1990. The books are aimed primarily at preschool to eighth grade and evaluated by a special book review subcommittee appointed by the National Science Teachers Association and the Children's Book Council. Selections are based on three criteria: accuracy,…

This book contains 22 lessons using hands-on activities designed to present some aspect of biotechnology in a usable form that teachers can adapt for their classrooms. The introductory section serves as a resource that introduces the teacher and student to the history of biotechnology. The activities are divided into five units that group lessons…

For the K-3 teacher, this book presents hundreds of ready-to-use individual and group activities for developing reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills, all correlated with other curriculum areas and organized into nine monthly sections. The book includes teaching strategies, individual and group games, activity sheets, quizzes, writing…

This paper discusses a model of integrated instruction and assessment called SMART (Special Multimedia Arenas for Refining Thinking). SMART involves interactive use of the Internet and multimedia software. The Internet serves three important functions: it acts as a formative assessment tool by providing individualized feedback to students, creates…