Explores gender issues that contributed to the differential attrition rate of men and women graduate students in two science departments (biology and chemistry) at a large research university. Analysis indicated a significantly larger student attrition rate in chemistry than in biology. In each department the attrition rate for women was…

Explains the design and development of curriculum materials that ask students to think about physics from a different view. These group-learning classroom materials specifically aim to bring about improvement of student understanding of sound waves. (Contains 29 references.) (Author/SOE)

Documents the use of student-generated questions as diagnostic of their willingness to engage in classroom interactions. Explores four ways of gathering students' written questions and their relative effectiveness. Examines students' capacity to design and present 'quality questions' and the extent to which these questions are indicative of…

Carries out a naturalistic small-scale study involving a class from a senior high school in Spain over two years. Analyzes students' essays on chemical change using text analysis techniques. Reports the development of four conceptual profiles and the implications of research for the process of teaching the concept of chemical change. (Author/KHR)

Explores the perspective of American suburban Midwestern high school chemistry students on the motivations for and implications of a particular form of classroom questioning behavior. Discusses the effects of the social atmosphere in high schools on scientific inquiry. (Author/KHR)

Examines a lesson in which students are engaged in inquiry in evolutionary biology to develop better understanding of concepts and reasoning skills necessary to support knowledge claims about changes in the genetic structure of populations known as microevolution. Explains how a software simulation, EVOLVE, can be used to foster discussions about…

Surveys (n=1116) 15-year-old students from 11 Western Australian schools to determine their understanding of and attitude towards recent advances in modern biotechnology. Discusses reasons for students' over-estimation of the use of biotechnology in society. Provides a rationale for the inclusion of biotechnology, a cutting edge science, in the…

Investigates whether the critical period for cognitive transition from concrete operations to formal operations at 12-14 years of age actually exists. Uses the Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) intervention program in Malawi. Discusses the existence of the critical period, academic achievement, and explanations for age and…

Advances the argument that science educators have a pivotal role as orthographers in preserving and promoting science for all. Interviews Keiyo elders and students (n=748) to determine indigenous names for snakes and how Keiyo oral narratives of snakes are used in teaching and learning. Uses the data to document Keiyo language and construct…

Examines children's and adults' knowledge of the ozone layer and its depletion, whether this knowledge increases with age, and how the ozone layer and ozone hole might be structured as scientific concepts. Uses a standardized set of questions to interview children and adults in Canada. Discusses implications of the results for health…

Reports on a study to elicit junior secondary students' understandings of the nature of science (NOS) through peer collaboration instruction based on science stories specifically developed to present several aspects of NOS. Investigates how students reacted to the stories and whether they were able to extract the aspects of NOS presented in the…

Notes case study evidence that points to some success in using writing frames to encourage pupils to both develop and express their procedural understanding in science. Suggests that fundamental to the success of such frames in encouraging pupils' expression of understanding is the teacher's active promotion of learning as a social process in…

Describes an approach to the teaching of electricity that uses box and AVOW diagrams, novel representations of the properties of the electric circuit that portray current, voltage, resistance, and power. The diagrams were developed as aids in learning, understanding, and problem solving and to promote conceptual change by challenging a number of…

Describes the AstraZeneca-Exeter Science through Telematics (AZEST) project and reports that the Internet has much potential as a communication channel for the provision and discussion of INSET materials for primary science in the UK. Evaluates websites dedicated to primary science at the local level, concept mapping for stimulating discussion,…

Examines senior high school students' cognitive orientation toward scientific or social information, designated as information preference, and associated preferential reasoning modes when presented with an environmental issue concerning nuclear energy usage. Investigates the association of information preference variable with academic and personal…