Investigates the effectiveness of different elements of diagnosis and prescription incorporated into help sessions for college science students. Results show that following laboratory classes with help sessions that are based on the results of diagnostic tests can alter achievement significantly, whether help sessions are directed by teacher or…

Describes adaptation of the Retake System to larger lecture classes and tests the importance of remedial study in improving exam performance for 410 students enrolled in an interdisciplinary (chemistry, physics, and biology) science course for nonscience majors. (HM)

Discusses the need for a technical teacher who could help college students working in geology laboratory and field settings. The duties and qualifications of the technical teacher are also discussed. (HM)

Describes how the procedures by which a certificate soil tester evaluates a parcel of land for its suitability as a site for a private sewage system or septic tank can be used by college students as a laboratory exercise in environmental geology. (HM)

Describes an activity by which college students can evaluate various urban environments through a series of responses to polar adjective pairs. This activity clarifies how earth science students feel about the environment, and it also teaches them contour mapping. (HM)

Describes a six-week field plant ecology course in Montana which is offered by the Botany Department at Southern Illinois University. The goals of the course, how it is taught, and student evaluation are also presented. (HM)

Focuses on the response of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the congressional authorization committees to the NSF sponsored precollege science programs. The article also summarizes and analyzes some of the results of the survey conducted by the Research Triangle Institute (RTI), North Carolina. (HM)

Investigates the effectiveness of an individualized approach to an introductory college chemistry course, including a computer-managed instructional system, and its effect on student attitude. Description of the Individual Learning System Chemistry course; procedures and results of the study are also presented. (HM)

Discusses the development of a curriculum in physics and biology designed to help prepare academically disadvantaged college students, most of whom are members of racial or ethnic minority groups. Reasons are given for addressing concept formation and reasoning development together, and for direct experience preceding discussion of formal…

Discussed are three aspects of the development of computer-aided learning materials: (1) reconstructing a beginning college physics course to be more efficient and flexible; (2) exploring simulations and learning sequences not usually accessible to students; (3) dissemination of project ideas to administrators and faculty elsewhere. (CS)

Described are reasons and methods for using videotapes to incorporate value-based issues (i.e., honesty, consequences of research, professional responsibility) into college physical science class discussions. (CS)

Described is the use of six self-paced mastery learning units dealing with fundamental concepts found to be difficult for first-year college chemistry students. (CS)

Compared are two approaches to exam writing in which the narrative approach is described as a novel, creative, and integrated learning opportunity. In this approach, a single system is chosen in which questions are asked that challenge the student to perceive interrelationships between principles and details previously learned. (CS)

Discussed are financial implications for college science teachers in terms of the transfer of Minority Institutions Science Improvement Program (MISIP) and, the elementary and preschool section of NSF's Improvement of Pre-College Instruction Group from the National Science Foundation to the new Department of Education. (CS)

Discusses difficulties physics students face in understanding physics formulas and equations as a result of placing too much emphasis on the mathematical formulation. Examples are cited to show that use of equations in physics should not be looked upon as primarily a mathematical exercise. (HM)