High school physics offers opportunities to use problem solving and lab practices as well as cement skills in research, technical writing, and software applications. Describes and evaluates computer software enhancing the high school physics curriculum including spreadsheets for laboratory data, all-in-one simulators, projectile motion simulators,…

Replicates a classic psychology laboratory experiment where students either endorsed or refuted personal statements and estimated how other people would respond. Students always overestimated an affirmative response on the statements they endorsed, thus illustrating the false consensus effect. Includes a list of the statements and statistical…

Data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 were used to identify factors related to gender differences in tenth-grade science performance. The advantage found for eighth-grade boys had widened by tenth grade. Findings emphasize the importance of active classroom involvement as a way of promoting gender equity. (SLD)

Provides selected abstracts from the Computers in Physics Instruction conference held on August 1-5, 1988. Topics include: wave and particle motion, the CT programing language, microcomputer-based laboratories, student written simulations, concept maps, summer institutes, computer bulletin boards, interactive video, and videodisks. (MVL)

Demonstrates that students who are taught physics concepts through active inquiry learn more readily than students taught the same concepts through vicarious inquiry method. Urges the active involvement of students in laboratory work. (LS)

A University of Toronto pharmaceutics course which organizes information about physical chemistry around real problems, presented as case studies or laboratory projects, is described. Problems were addressed in class discussions or by unsupervised eight-student groups using self- and group evaluation procedures. Results are discussed, and three…

In 1987, National Science Teachers Association commissioned the Search for Excellence in Biology Teaching Task Force. This article is a distillation of the task force report, highlighting the criteria for excellence in biology teaching, grades 7-12. The criteria for excellence are in five subsections: Goals, Criteria for Curriculum, Criteria for…

Academic achievement was negatively correlated with television viewing. This correlation was independent of the child's verbal ability. Partial correlations showed maternal ratings of stress related to life events and father's marital satisfaction were associated with television viewing. (Author/BB)

Describes the processes developed in the Sandia National Laboratories (a Department of Energy multiprogram national laboratory) Technical Library to provide and improve desktop access to Sandia-generated documents. Discusses procedures for cataloging these electronic reports, including identification of the bibliographic information and MARC tags…

Presents a history of the use of technology in second-language instruction, beginning with the 1960s and the grammar translation method; through the audiolingual movement and language laboratories; into emerging use of tape recorders, videotapes, and computer-assisted language learning; and up through computer-assisted instruction, distance…

Describes the development of a statistical experiment to assess and compare the effects of traditional lecture and laboratory technology methods of teaching introductory computer programming concepts. Discusses the use of performance measures including tests, quizzes, homework, and projects to assess students' learning, retention, and success…

Individual students in two different sections of an undergraduate civil engineering laboratory were tasked with preparing three professional-quality laboratory reports. The teaching assistant and/or instructor used established criteria to grade the first two reports prepared by students in one section. The first two reports prepared by students in…

Students of biology must learn the scientific method for generating information in the field. Concurrently, they should learn how information is reported and accessed. We developed a progressive set of exercises for the undergraduate introductory biology laboratory that combine these objectives. Pre- and postassessments of approximately 100…

Documentation of children's projects is advantageous to their learning process and is also a good method for student teachers to observe the process of learning. Documentation panels are a unique way to help student teachers understand how children learn. Completing a panel requires a student teacher to think through a process. Teachers must learn…

A course in Exercise Physiology is a common requirement among undergraduate students preparing for a career in physical education, adult fitness, or athletic training. Often, such courses are taught to an assortment of students from a variety of disciplines (Van Donselaar & Leslie, 1990) with an emphasis on physiological principles applied to…