"The Dirty Water Challenge" is a fun activity that teaches children about their environment in an engaging and practical way. Inquiry is embedded within the practical--students have to design, plan, and then build their own design of water filter. Students are exposed to important concepts from a variety of scientific disciplines, including how…

Many proven research-based instructional strategies have been developed for introductory college-level physics. Significant efforts to disseminate these strategies have focused on convincing individual instructors to give up their traditional practices in favor of particular research-based practices. Yet evidence suggests that the findings of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the impact of Internet Virtual Physics Laboratory (IVPL) instruction with traditional laboratory instruction in physics academic achievement, performance of science process skills, and computer attitudes of tenth grade students. One-hundred and fifty students from four classes at one private…

Presented in both English and French, Science 10 is an integrated academic course that helps students in Alberta, Canada better understand and apply fundamental concepts and skills common to biology, chemistry, physics, and the Earth sciences. The major goals of the program are: (1) to develop in students an understanding of the interconnecting…

Presented in both English and French, Science 20-30 is an integrated academic program in Alberta, Canada that helps students better understand and apply fundamental concepts and skills common to biology, chemistry, physics, and the Earth sciences. The major goals of the program are: (1) to develop in students an understanding of the…

This paper is part of the symposium on "Gender and Assessment of Physics in Context: Getting It Right!" It examines ways in which current practices privilege the "masculine" over the "feminine" and presents an agenda for gender inclusive assessment practices. It is argued that physics like other domains of knowledge,…

The authors' experiences with electronic bulletin boards are recounted. Begun in 1986, the Physics Forum bulletin board for Massachusetts high school physics teachers spent its first few years as a resource of limited use only. In 1989, however, the National Science Foundation awarded the Five Colleges/Western Massachusetts Partnership a grant…

This report summarizes trends in the job search experiences and employment outcomes of 1993-1994 physics graduates at all degree levels. Data were gathered via the American Institute of Physics' Employment Survey. Type of position secured in terms of permanence, fields of permanent employment, and level of utilization is reported for doctoral and…

This issue of ENC Focus highlights laserdiscs and CD-ROMs that encourage students to raise searching questions, enter debates, formulate opinions, and engage in problem solving and critical thinking. The laserdiscs and CD-ROMs were chosen based on the criteria of instructional design, content, and interest. Items featured include: The Chemistry…

This document is comprised of the four 1995-1996 issues of "Classroom Compass," a newsletter of the Eisenhower Southwest Consortium for the Improvement of Mathematics and Science Teaching. Each issue contains a "Resources and Opportunities" section, a reading list, excerpts from the National Science Education Standards, and…

This paper states and discusses general guidelines in teaching for conceptual change. Several important factors that seem to be necessary in meeting the guidelines in normal classrooms are considered. The factors relate to the teacher, student, and the classroom climate. The guidelines are illustrated using examples drawn from a fifth-grade…

This report presents the results of a 1995-96 survey of U.S. colleges and universities offering doctorate, masters, and bachelors degrees in physics and astronomy, focusing on degree production and current student enrollment. It found that a decade-long increase in physics doctorate production appeared to be leveling off, with the 1995 degree…

This guide includes complete installation descriptions of 30 exhibits. They include: the adjustable birthday cake, ball-in-tube, Bernoulli Box, chain wave, collapsible truss bridge, double wave device, eddy currents raceway, full-length mirror, geodesic domes, giant magnetic tangrams, harmonic cantilever, hyperboloid of revolution, lifting lever,…

Investigations of changes in conceptions during physics instruction are the logical and necessary steps to follow successful international research on students' preinstructional conceptions. The theoretical perspective integrates currently available frameworks of cognition, cognitive states, and cognitive processes in physics. Particular emphasis…

Any number of successful teaching strategies use a mixture of methods rich in language use to enhance conceptual learning. Not all language-rich teaching leads to equivalent conceptual gain. A year-long study was conducted in three high school physics classes to provide empirical support for the existence of effects of varying level of…