Presents perspectives on creating new technology-based supports for science learning. Reviews current philosophies concerning the interpretative nature of scientific inquiry and discusses the difficulties of students and teachers in science education. Describes a prototype software system for supporting scientific inquiry processes in students.…

Outlines a systematic approach to instructional design and discusses some of the cognitive and instructional issues involved in learning or teaching scientific concepts. Uses the concept of "acceleration" to illustrate the approach. Advocates the use of computers and related information technologies in concept teaching. (ML)

Defines artificial intelligence (AI) in relation to intelligent computer-assisted instruction (ICAI) and science education. Provides a brief background of AI work, examples of expert systems, examples of ICAI work, and addresses problems facing AI workers that have implications for science education. Proposes a revised model of the Karplus/Renner…

Provides perspectives on information technology and science education. Reviews the major changes that have occurred during the last 20 years in the study of the mind that are relevant to science education. Focuses on the impact of computers and information technology. (ML)

Reports the results of an in-depth examination of middle school children's graphing skills and misconceptions. Also discusses a study in which students learned graphing skills through microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL). (ML)

Discusses a study which assessed the effect of a brief kinematics unit on: (1) students' ability to translate between a physical event and the graphic representation of it, and; (2) the effect of real-time on graphing skills. Reports the success of the use of a microcomputer-based laboratory with graphing velocity and distance. (ML)

This study investigated the effectiveness of computer simulations for enhancing the problem solving skills of high school students. Summaries of three related studies are presented. Results indicate that the computerized simulations enabled students to master the objectives of a biology course as effectively as traditional methods. (ML)

Presents data indicating that learning can be enhanced when information is presented that illustrates how science information can be used to solve problems. The experiments showed positive results through use of video-based macro-contexts. (ML)

Examines students' problem solving performance on linear and logarithmic estimation tasks using a microcomputer. Results are discussed in terms of performance data and strategy used. Students were able to estimate faster and more efficiently for the linear estimation task but experienced difficulty on a logarithmic scale. Discusses reasons for the…

Discusses a study which focused on students' actual programming behavior. Descriptive data revealed that the high school students spent little time in planning their programs or writing their code. Their debugging behavior was characterized as a trial and error strategy. (ML)

Reports on a study that investigated the effects of various instructional practices on programming proficiency focusing on characteristics of Pascal classes. States that instructional practices involve extensive on-line access, explicit instruction, and extensive feedback. (ML)

Examines (1) how students evaluate information obtained in the science laboratory; (2) the effects of use of microcomputer-based laboratory; and, (3) the effects of explicit instruction on critical evaluation skills. Discusses results in terms of students' propensity to accept incorrect graphs and in terms of the effect of the enhanced instruction…

Describes a study in which middle school/junior high school students were exposed to women science career role models as a part of their science instruction. Results indicated that the student's attitudes toward scientists and women in science were positively affected. (TW)

Discusses the inclusion of socio-scientific issues in science education from the standpoint of social cognition. Describes a study in which adolescents who had successfully completed both high school chemistry and biology were interviewed. Data suggest that their dominant domains of reasoning were in the area of social cognition. (TW)

Discusses the inclusion of socio-scientific issues in science education. Describes a study in which adolescents who had successfully completed both high school chemistry and biology were interviewed to determine the extent to which they used their knowledge of the physical world, via nonsocial cognition, when analyzing such issues. (TW)