A study was designed (1) to develop an instrument which measures activity ratios, the ratio of time a teacher spends teaching with indirect activities (those in which he acts as a co-ordinator of learning experiences) to time he spends teaching with direct activities (those in which he is imparting knowledge), (2) to devise an inservice science methods course which would encourage fifth grade teachers to use indirect activities when teaching science, and (3) to measure the effects of the methods course. Thirty volunteer fifth grade science teachers were randomly assigned to a control group or to an experimental group which was given the inservice methods course. All were observed by two of three observers four times before, twice during, and four times after the course. Activity ratios and laboratory and questioning ratios (the proportion of time the teacher spends with laboratory experiences and asking questions) were calculated, and differences in mean ratio changes were tested by applying the t-test and using a .05 level of significance. Results indicate that the inservice methods course caused change in teaching techniques: experimental teachers made greater use of indirect activities, especially laboratory experiences, after the course. (Included are an 18-item bibliography, a descriptive outline of the methods course, and a 16-page discussion of "Activity Categories," an instrument for quantitatively recording activities in a science class.) (JS)