Presented is a broad perspective of the state of knowledge in science education, a description of existing trends, the areas where research is needed, and tentative answers to persistent problems that have been identified from the research. (CS)

The effect of students' race and performance on nonverbal behavior of teachers was investigated. White college-age subjects, acting as teachers, were led to praise successful or unsuccessful students. Results showed that stimulus teachers were more pleased with successful than unsuccessful students, and more pleased with White than Black students.…

To explore the hypothesized dimensionality of teachers' attitudes toward educational innovations, nine rating scales were validated to measure general change-related values; innovation-specific attitudes and behavioral orientation; adoption of innovations; attitudinal commitment to adopted innovations; and ongoing participation in change-related…

Describes a study of the teaching behavior of student-teachers of science disciplines during the one-term teaching practice of the English "Post-Graduate Certificate in Education" course. Results suggest that in several behavioral dimensions students and teachers achieve a close match. (HM)

Each of four teachers taught ecology to eight sixth-grade groups. Eight treatments factorially varied two levels of teacher structuring, soliciting, and reacting. Low soliciting yielded higher student achievement. Low structuring and low reacting interacted to yield lower achievement. Retention measures showed similar main and interaction effects.…

Uses journal entries to trace a student teacher's professional development during her student teaching assignment. These entries address a number of issues, including team teaching, decision making, consistency with students, lesson and curriculum planning, and classroom discipline. Includes a series of suggested poststudent teaching activities.…

A survey of 295 college students and 116 faculty investigated perceptions of how professor behavior contributes to an improved student-professor relationship, focusing on four dimensions of the relationship: fairness; caring and individual attention; flexibility and open-mindedness; and trust and credibility. Results varied by gender and major,…

Advocates encouraging and incorporating student/teacher questioning interactions into social studies classrooms. Maintains that guided discussions and questioning techniques facilitate classroom management and appeal to a variety of learning styles. Includes extended examples of classroom discussions and questioning activities. (MJP)

Describes the classrooms of two middle-school science teachers, reporting what they have noted regarding gender issues in the classroom, and describing strategies they find to be effective in helping girls--and boys--resist the negative effects of gender-binding in the middle school years. Discusses gender issues in language arts and what can be…

Reports on a study of classroom interaction in Kenyan primary schools. Analyzes video recordings of 102 lessons in English, mathematics, and science using systematic observation, discourse analysis, and a time-line analysis. Reveals the preponderance of teacher dominated lessons with little opportunity for student interaction. Considers…

Relies on students' and teachers' accounts to reveal a more accurate account of classroom life in England (circa 1920-39) than that of official documents. Suggests that corporal punishment was extensive and brutal. Includes many verbatim accounts of teachers' and students' reactions to this treatment. (MJP)

Examines the power imbalance between university faculty and students in terms of the "deliberate relationship" (other types being ethnographer-subject and mother-child relationships). Critiques contemporary responses to this power differential: positions of distance or denial. Discusses elements of the deliberate relationship that can help faculty…

Describes the development and validation of a short form of the My Class Inventory (MCI) assessing classroom psychosocial environment. Reports a case study involving the use of the short form of MCI in attempts to improve a sixth-grade mathematics class. Provides all 25 items of the short version of MCI. (YP)

Suggests that differential performances of students in schools may be attributable to teachers' altered communication and teaching strategies in response to perceived student abilities. Investigates the nature of such adaptations, finding that lesson structure changed in low-ranked classes, diminishing students' possibility of attaining the stated…

A relatively context-free method of assessing teacher behavior was tested on nine preschool teachers, five elementary school teachers, and seven remedial teachers in Israel. The context is removed via use of extremely brief (10-second) video clips of teacher behavior, separated into verbal and non-verbal channels. (TJH)