Examines student and teacher perceptions about the purpose and effectiveness of laboratory work at Year 10. The views of students and their teacher on the goals, conduct, and assessment of laboratory work were compared. Findings suggest that the relevance of laboratory work to everyday life could be made clearer to students. This may entail…

A study of 144 patients assigned to eight orthodontic residents over two years found residents requested lateral tomograms of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) 28% of the time, commonly citing TMJ clicking, pain, and medico-legal protection. Posteroanterior cephalograms were ordered 26% of the time, commonly for facial asymmetry and maxillary…

Presents a laboratory in which students are provided with cultures of three bacterial strains. Using the results, students will determine which of the strains corresponds to a mutant lacking a particular functional gene. (DDR)

Describes a high school chemistry class that regularly studies a local river to incorporate hands-on environmental studies into chemistry topics. This integration has proven to be a successful technique to make science come alive for students, arouse students' curiosity, and convince students that chemistry is indeed everywhere. (DKM)

Presents an activity that focuses on insects and the choices they make in response to sensory input. Involves students and teachers in inquiry-oriented investigations and presents details of preparation, a discussion of the teacher's role, and a materials list. (DDR)

Presents an exercise to demonstrate two fundamental concepts of fluid mechanics: the Reynolds number and the Principle of Continuity. The exercise demonstrates flow in a major blood vessel, such as the aorta, with and without a stenosis. Students observe the transition from laminar to turbulent flow as well as downstream persistence of turbulence.…

Access to professional development opportunities for in-service high school chemistry teachers remains a problem. In an effort to increase teacher access, a new cross-listed course called Chemistry 869/Curriculum and Instruction 869 was created at the University of Nebraska and offered via the Internet. Describes this course in microscale…

Offers a brief overview of the evolution of writing center theory and practice (discussing process-oriented pedagogy as well as the shift to social constructionism) over three decades. Stresses the continuing presence of the principles of formative assessment. (SR)

Rearticulates the relationship of the writing center to institutions by attempting to address the gap between theorizing about differences in higher education and working with differences in the writing center. Discusses why so little is heard from writing centers in composition forums, and why writing centers are such contested sites on so many…

Explores the relationship between scientists' orientation to one another and to an experimental apparatus, analyzing as data a videotaped authentic interaction among co-workers in a chemistry laboratory. Demonstrates how the scientists display systematic orientation to the apparatus as their common spatial point of reference and the physical…

Describes scientific collaboratories as environments where researchers can perform their research without regard to physical location, interacting with colleagues, accessing instrumentation, sharing data and computational resources, and accessing information in digital libraries. Focuses on an evaluation study that compared undergraduates working…

Describes a course developed for undergraduate students that includes an environmental science lecture and laboratory section. Focuses on the laboratory section as the critical component with activities that are real-world related, hands-on, problem solving-based, and use cooperative learning approaches. (Contains 12 references.) (Author/YDS)

India has established district institutes of education and training (DIETs) to improve the quality of elementary education. These institutions use of the Lab Area approach, which focuses on innovative ideas and experiments related to elementary education and teacher development. Studies show that this approach has a positive impact. This paper…

Urges the use of plastinated specimens as an alternative to traditional dissection in biology classrooms. Suggests that plastinated biological specimens heighten student interest and enhance teaching. Interview responses of students, teachers, and administrators to the use of plastinated specimens in selected high schools were found to be very…

Discusses appropriate methodologies for investigating how learning occurs in the laboratory. Presents two techniques, concept mapping and V-diagramming, which can be effective research tools in probing students' understanding of chemical principles. These techniques can also be effective instructional tools that help students integrate lecture…