Comments on the criticisms of Fensham (2002) of scientific literacy curricula being designed by scientists and science educators. Suggests that an analysis of literacy leads to several propositions from which the analogy with scientific literacy can be drawn. (Author/YDS)

Comments on new ideas being charted by new scientists and new science educators. Discusses two directions and examines who the scientists working in science education and the science educators are. Describes the disciplines, scholars, and scientists studying the structures and processes of knowledge growth and development in individuals and among…

Points out the effectiveness of student-generated examples as a teaching tool. Examines the roles played by examples constructed and generated by students, illustrates and analyzes the use of this tool, and develops a theory for the act of exemplification as an act of cognition. Introduces a framework developed for this work. (Contains 39…

Describes the history of science and its purposes in school curriculum, and the reform movements in science education. Explains confusion of "literacy" and "literate" and the use of mass media as a major source for scientific literacy. Discusses science for all and science for possible future scientists. (Contains 41 references.) (Author/YDS)

Comments on Fensham's (2002) argument that it is "time to change drivers for science literacy". Explains the science, technology, and society (STS) movement which has been a candidate for remodeling the curriculum to achieve universal scientific literacy. Makes a plea for teaching students how to find out about the science underlying current…

Comments on Fensham's suggestion for a change of driver for developing new curricula in school science. Discusses the support needed for a curriculum driven by societal experts, unintentional contributions to the existing problem, and a personal research agenda. (Author/YDS)

Alternatives to traditional science education will remain as limited as their predecessors unless the very structures of schooling are called into question. Alternatives cannot be designed at the drawing board by theoreticians but must be grounded in praxis, thereby providing concrete trajectories along which science education can actually change.…

Comments on Fensham's (2002) suggestion that 'societal experts' are better situated than academic scientists to decide what knowledge is worth having. Suggests that Fensham's proposal lacks the educo-politics needed to counter the customary devious educo-politics expected from those who support the status quo, particularly some academic…

Explains a proposal for society to be the driver for scientific literacy and the need to understand the roots of persistent difficulty in incorporating useful knowledge into the secondary school curriculum. Discusses changes taking place in the economy, the idea of enlisting industry as an ally to legitimate alternative forms of knowledge, and…

Reports on the third of a line of investigations that examine pre-service teachers' conceptions of nature of science (NOS) and the translation of those conceptions into classroom practice. Delineates the effectiveness of an intervention designed to facilitate pre-service teachers' inclusion of NOS in their classroom teaching. (Author/MM)

Addresses some of the problems inherent both in traditional didactic science teaching and in approaches based on theories of conceptual change. Argues for helping students to acquire a better understanding of science (through an anthropological approach) and a better understanding of themselves as learners and science initiates. (Author/MM)

Describes empirical research into the effectiveness of using concepts and principles of physics in the teaching of geometrical proofs. Demonstrates, tentatively, that proofs from physics could be a viable addition to the mathematics curriculum. (Author/MM)

Reports on a study in which anchoring probability situations that are conceptually analogous to misconception-prone target probability situations were generated and tested with secondary mathematics students. Reports that a follow up test showed that 65% of the reconstructed knowledge was retained after six months. (Author/MM)

Reviews previous reform efforts in the history of mathematics education. Argues for a rethinking of the "one teacher, one classroom" model of education and favors two teachers, one with science/mathematics and the other with humanities/language arts training, for a group of 40-50 students working cooperatively. (Author/MM)

Raises questions about the purpose and scope of research in science education and comments on the questions that have occupied the attention of most researchers in science education in recent years. (Author/MM)