Reports on a study designed to investigate how the use of computer assisted instruction (CAI) tutorial programs, incorporating advance organizers and involving various sizes of groups of subjects, would affect achievement scores, retention scores, and rates of learning. (TW)

Reports on the results of an investigation into the understanding of the concepts of basic electricity by French students from grade six up through the fourth year of college. Discusses the misconceptions formed and the challenges these present to physics educators. (TW)

Reports on a study designed to focus on staff development delivery variables in the context of science teacher workshops. Data suggest that 8 to 16 hours is a minimum amount of time for staff development if teachers are to implement new strategies into their science classrooms. (TW)

Presents two studies designed to determine whether middle school-aged children's attitudes and content achievement are different when they take a technology course with their parents or with their peers. Indicates that parents have little affect in helping their children learn about technology or attitudes about computers. (CW)

Reports the results of two experiments that examined the relative effects of questions requiring decisions, statements providing the decision information to the students, questions not requiring decisions, and control procedures on student's memory for chemistry text reading materials. Discusses results in terms of an elaboration perspective on…

Studies the effect of intellectual development, degree of field independence, mental capacity, amount of prior genetics knowledge and amount of fluid intelligence on reading comprehension and/or genetics achievement of students enrolled in a nonmajor biology course. Concludes that developmental level was the most consistent predictor of…

Presents data which leads to the construction of a response to the question of how different phases of the learning cycle influence physics students' content achievement and attitudes. Discusses the importance of the learning cycle in science instruction and the strength of using contrasting techniques (qualitative and quantitative) in research.…

Examines the effect of familiar and unfamiliar task content upon proportional reasoning abilities of ninth grade students. Uses content from chemistry and physics textbooks. Reports that student performance was higher on proportional reasoning problems involving familiar content than with unfamiliar content and that content famililarity interacted…

Summarizes the results of a preferred method of study questionnaire in which college students explained how they approached reading a new textbook. Reports that women showed a significant preference for adopting a single method of study. Indicates that there was no discernable relationship between study strategies and college level. (CW)

Reports on the results of a study designed to examine what middle and high school science teachers believe should be the goals for science education for the remainder of the 1980s. Respondents compared modern science education goals with those of the 1960s. (TW)

Reports on a study conducted in the Richardson Independent School District (Texas) which was designed to assess the attitudes toward science of students and teachers who have been involved with the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) compared to non-SCIS students and teachers. (TW)

Calls for differentiating between three kinds of studies of students' conceptions in science, namely descriptive studies, explanatory studies, and studies attempting to foster conceptual change. Cites the literature about student perceptions and science instruction. (TW)

Identifies two stages in research on scientific literacy; a composite saturation stage in which definitions covered all objects of science education, and a stage when researchers focused on small manageable portions of scientific literacy. Describes formal, nonformal, and informal science teaching. (TW)

Describes a research strategy designed to examine learning and behavior when students interacted with microcomputers and software interfaced with a videotape cassette recorder (VCR). Utilized the VCR to record the video output from the microcomputer and students' verbal comments using a microphone unit. (TW)

Reports on a study in which 61 science supervisors were asked to identify their most effective and least effective teachers. Differences were found regarding gender, quantity of National Science Foundation workshop experiences, and certain elected in-service experiences. (TW)