Describes the Assessment of Performance Unit (APU) Science project. Discusses the findings including perceptions of problems, procedural understanding, control of variables, and measurement strategies. Suggests a change from traditional learning strategies to more student-centered ones. (YP)

After brief histories of laboratory schools and comparable Japanese "attached schools," this article promotes preservation of university-controlled schools in a cooperating schools network that provides teacher training and experimentation sites. Although university-controlled schools may have professional development school…

Describes and illustrates a technique for using guided dramatization in intervention with special needs or at-risk children. Discusses social benefits of the technique. Maintains that the technique is useful for helping mainstreamed children socially integrate into the regular classroom. (BG)

Includes 14 reports on events, projects, and new publications on a variety of topics, including science and society; environmentally related indicators affecting human welfare; laboratory programs for European science journalists; programs for disadvantaged adolescents at science centers and youth museums; peer review in biomedical publication;…

Demonstrates a laboratory to teach the concept of moment of inertia in which students are asked to identify four objects of equal mass sealed in unopenable containers by identifying the mass distribution of each object. Gives instructions to build an instrument to determine relative distribution of mass. (MDH)

A survey investigated the application of constructs related to acquisition of psychomotor skills in the preclinical dental curriculum in 220 departments of operative dentistry, fixed and removable prosthodontics, pediatric dentistry, and periodontics. Results indicate insufficient opportunities for students to define desired outcomes and…

Explores the use of local area networks (LAN's) in learning laboratories and how they are improving learning outcomes for certain student populations (e.g., deaf and developmental students). Describes how LAN's alter the instructor's role and how instructors can manage student-driven classrooms. Offers guidance on implementing a network system.…

Investigates the use of collaborative learning groups in a physical science course designed for elementary education majors (n=54). Data for the study were 20 video-taped laboratory sessions, the instructor's journal, and the students laboratory reports. Among the conclusions is that the collaborative science laboratories provided insightful…

Identifies factors, both helpful and obstructive, influencing teachers' transition from basal to a whole-language curriculum. Observations from two first-grade classrooms and interviews with school principals and two classroom teachers (one whole-language veteran and the other in transition into whole language) are evaluated. (GLR)

Teaching strategies associated with a conceptual change model of science teaching were examined in a study of seventh-grade life science teachers (n=13). Greater use of conceptual change teaching strategies was associated with use of the special instructional materials, not with the training. Students in classes where teachers were provided with…

Recommends improving preservice teacher assessment by providing multiple forms of on-campus laboratory experiences (e.g., microteaching, reflective teaching, simulations) that offer job-related tasks. Performance on the tasks could be assessed at multiple points and for various purposes (selecting preservice teachers and student teachers and…

Describes a study conducted by the U.S. Navy that compared training effectiveness and user acceptance of live instruction and six different alternative instructional television (ITV) technologies that had differing levels of audio and video communication. The ITV laboratory configuration is explained, and instructor preferences and skills are…

Describes school science as a rite of passage, and exposes problems in school science that are made visible through the use of this metaphor. (PR)

Discusses computer simulations in science education and presents the results of a study of 39 ninth-grade earth-science students to determine the effects of computer-simulated mineral identification activities on test performance. Results indicated no difference in test scores between the group using real minerals and the group using a computer…

Outlines a laboratory group program for engaging large numbers of undergraduate psychology students in faculty research at small liberal arts colleges with limited research resources. Participating in the group enhances the students' interest in and understanding of research and improves their chances of being accepted into a graduate program.…