Lists the benefits of hands-on experiments that are both low-cost and high-tech. Details four examples which include the use of contact lenses and compact disks. (DDR)

Describes experiences of the Computers in Teaching Initiatives (CTI) centers for chemistry and physics which provide support to academic staff in universities in the United Kingdom who are using communications and information technology. Topics include funding by the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP); courseware development; and…

Six 12-year-old students were followed during an eight-month course using "Energy and Change" curricular materials, which introduce ideas related to the Second Law of Thermodynamics through an abstract picture language. Concludes that students had higher levels of generalization in their explanations of physical, chemical, and biological…

Outlines an ideal physics curriculum where key ideas are learned using an apprenticeship model. Discusses the implications of a shift towards Internet-based learning. (DDR)

Describes database-driven Web pages that dynamically display different information each time the page is accessed in response to the user's needs. Highlights include information management; online assignments; grade tracking; updating Web pages; creating database-driven Web pages; and examples of how they have been used for a high school physics…

Reports on the effects of constructivist versus traditional teaching approaches on university students' learning about osmosis and diffusion. Students understood diffusion and osmosis more deeply in the constructivist-informed classroom, which used small discussion groups rather than traditional large lecture groups. Suggests ways to improve…

Describes how oral and written-discourse processes in a high school physics class are related to sociocultural practices in scientific communities. Finds that students' appropriation of scientific discourse was related to the framing activities of the teachers and the social practices established over time in the classroom. Contains 74 references.…

Describes the construction of a device used to assist a physically disabled student with using the right-hand rule in a physics course. (WRM)

Identifies four views of the nature of the science/technology relationship: Idealist, Demarcationist, Materialist, and Interactionist. Analyzes high school physics textbooks in light of these relationship types and finds that the texts are dominated by an idealist storyline that presents a limited view of the history and philosophy of…

Describes the construction of an exponential decay graph that can be used in a science class to support discussions about the uses of radioactivity, its risks, limitations, and advantages. (WRM)

Organizes a reading of the conceptual change literature that brings into view a collection of design specifications for a conceptual change apparatus. Analyzes one such apparatus in the particulars of a science education demonstration program produced by the Harvard-Smithsonian Private Universe Project. (Contains 114 references.) (Author/WRM)

Explores the tension between subject knowledge and pedagogic content knowledge in elementary teacher education by documenting students' and inservice teachers' learning about forces in the context of floating and sinking. Describes significant features of the learning process and examines subject-specific aspects of learning by demonstrating how…

Describes a set-up for sending the infrared signal from a common remote control device to an oscilloscope in order to "see" the infrared signal. (WRM)

Describes the construction and use of a magnetic needle that is stronger than those conventionally used for experiments with electromagnetism. (WRM)

Discusses the development and use of Personal Assistants for Learning (PALs) computer tutorials for teaching applications of Newton's Laws. Finds that the tutorials were nearly as effective as individual tutoring by expert teachers and considerably more effective than the instruction provided in a well-taught physics class. (Contains over 30…