A one-semester course is described which directly responds to the challenge that the scientific community addresses the question that the level of science literacy to the large number is small. It is designed for bright, highly motivated students who have only a basic high school background in chemistry and who have no plans for taking any more…

Young children are often curious about the world around them and they will freely explore their environment. However it is naive to assume that children can discover most scientific ideas for themselves. They need help, support and direction to begin to make sense of their world, to build the foundations of scientific ideas and to make the…

The author's favourite film musical is "The King and I." Of the several catchy songs in the film her favourite is "Getting to know you," which is sung firstly by the governess to the children and then the children to her. The author hereby declares this to be "The Song of Science," with "you" being the "system" being studied (e.g. plant, elastic…

It is argued that a central role for models and modelling would greatly increase the authenticity of the science curriculum. The range of ontological states available for the notion of "model" is outlined, together with the modes available for their representation. Issues in the selection of models for and the development of modelling skills…

Many students are curious about the steps in food preparation. As a result of such experiences, the author of this article began to incorporate science demonstrations into food preparation classes. She conducted research, developed resources, and piloted the "Principles of Food Science" class over the next 6 years. "Principles of Food Science"…

Researchers predict that future developments in nanotechnology will bring incredible, almost inconceivable, change to the manufacturing industry. For now, though, one of technology's most trusted tools remains very relevant: In the field of thermometry, thermocouples are a tried and true technology. As a consequence, material on thermocouples…

Actions speak louder than words. Teachers may verbally agree with curriculum change but seldom do their statements match up with their classroom practice and, as a result, the intended curriculum is never fully implemented. The study described below reports on how primary and secondary teachers' statements of belief, otherwise referred to as…

Advocates of Intelligent Design (ID) theory argue that evolution is a theory in crisis, ID is a legitimate scientific theory, and biology teachers should teach the controversy. Supporters of evolutionary theory testify that ID is a religious, not scientific, concept, and evolution is in no danger of bankruptcy, having survived 140 years of…

This paper traces the sophisticated negotiations to re-inscribe the authority of Nature when a school science experiment fails during the enactment of a highly rated science curriculum unit. Drawing on transcriptions from classroom videotapes, we identify and describe four primary patterns of interaction that characterize this process, arguing…

Case study teaching is difficult in large classes, especially in fixed-seat amphitheaters. The development of audience response systems, or "clickers," for use in classrooms has opened up exciting new possibilities for creating and implementing interactive case studies, particularly in large introductory science courses.

This study compared the efficacy of 3 approaches to professional development in middle school Earth science organized around the principles of Understanding by Design (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998) in a sample of 53 teachers from a large urban district. Teachers were randomly assigned to a control group or to 1 of 3 conditions that varied with…

The present study examined the outcomes of a newly designed four-lesson science module on opinion-forming in the context of genomics in upper secondary education. The lesson plan aims to foster 16-year-old students' opinion-forming skills in the context of genomics and to test the effect of the use of fiction in the module. The basic hypothesis…

The increasing complexity of human body models enabled by advances in diagnostic imaging, computing, and growing knowledge calls for the development of a new generation of systems for intelligent exploration of these models. Here, we introduce a novel paradigm for the exploration of digital body models illustrating cerebral vasculature. It enables…

Increasing emphasis on leadership in medical education has created a need for developing accurate evaluations of team leaders. Our study aimed to compare the accuracy of self- and peer evaluation of student leaders in the first-year Human Structure block (integrated gross anatomy, embryology, and radiology). Forty-nine first-year medical students…

This study compares overall laboratory averages and individual test scores along with a student survey to determine the effects of using virtual microscopy in place of optical microscopes in a large undergraduate human anatomy course. T-tests revealed that the first two laboratory examinations (of four) and the overall laboratory averages were…