Examines results of a study using the inquiry method in composition instruction. Findings suggest that writing tasks that engage students in specifiable inquiry strategies should be an important part of every writing curriculum. (RAE)

Describes two approaches to introducing a novel to elementary students. Maintains that the second approach, which encourages reader response, is more effective than the first, which mandates the learning of 100 new vocabulary words. Describes a discussion technique based on a "discussion web" or map of possibilities that helps students to explore…

Teacher dialogs are a powerful staff development tool, involving a few teachers who meet during school hours on a regular basis to discuss instructional issues using a constructivist approach. The article examines ways to schedule time to maximize teacher learning and presents a model of staff development based on constructivist thinking. (SM)

Describes the Research Internship in Science/Mathematics program, a collaborative effort between Brookhaven National Laboratory and New York University, which aims at increasing teachers' awareness and understanding of science and technology, promoting the integration of current science into the curriculum, and encouraging inquiry-based classroom…

Analyzes high school biology textbooks with the aim of providing descriptive information and determining the emphasis on scientific literacy themes of body of knowledge, nature of science, inquiry, and Science-Technology-Society (STS) issues. Concludes that the textbooks focus mainly on the knowledge of science and divorce science content from the…

Presents a guided discovery activity that uses fruit flies and can be implemented in introductory biology and nature of science classes to flesh out abstract lectures about life cycles, insect morphology, patterns and causes of animal behavior, and the nature of science. Discusses strengths and drawbacks and results of student evaluations of the…

Describes a theory of metaphor and analogy and discusses its implications for enhancing teacher understanding of scientific inquiry and inquiry teaching at the elementary level. Discusses uses of analogy in classrooms: Scientific Theory, Learning Styles and Modes, Children's Ideas, Generative Teaching Strategies, Graphic Organizers, and…

An emerging postpositivist paradigm for inquiry and research is outlined, based on recent thinking in philosophy, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The paper delineates the paradigm's basic beliefs, considers methodological implications, and suggests applications in the education of the gifted. (Author/JDD)

It is argued that science's reputation as a "hard" subject can be attributed to four intrinsic features of science and/or learners. The reasons for a link between abstraction and difficulty are briefly explored. It is suggested that certain extrinsic features of science education, resulting from choices by science educators, exacerbate these…

Discusses problem posing as a feature of creative activity or exceptional mathematical ability, inquiry-oriented instruction, mathematical activity, improving students' problem solving, a window into students' mathematical understanding, and improving students' disposition toward mathematics. (Contains 70 references.) (MKR)

This paper presents a pedagogy of teacher education that uses hypermedia technology to represent the complexities of actual work in classrooms and make multiple images of innovative teaching and learning available for study. A course in which hypermedia tools are used to involve prospective teachers in inquiry learning about mathematics teaching…

Responding to an article about the function of the Australian university (EJ 476 127), an educator criticizes the idea that faculty transmit knowledge to students. It is argued that knowledge and interpretations are not given to or acquired by students but rather that learning and education are processes of inquiry and creation. (MSE)

Described are how invitations to inquiry have been used in presentations to effectively demonstrate and explain the notion of inquiry and its role in science teaching and how they can be used in teacher education. An initial segment of an invitation to inquiry script and a list of topics that have been used as invitations to inquiry are included.…

A strategy for teaching undergraduate organization theory and design uses dialectical inquiry (thesis-antithesis-synthesis) and involves students actively in classroom learning. Concepts are introduced through dichotomies as typically introduced in texts; discussion elaborates grey areas. Case analysis by this method conveys the often ambiguous…

Addresses problems and possibilities in development of practitioner research stemming from a semester-long master's level research course. Presents course context; outlines the four classroom studies that examined journal writing; explores commonalities among studies; shares conversations among researchers on issues of systematic inquiry,…