Discusses a teacher education program for helping teachers facilitate the development of students' understanding of the nature of mathematics and science and to motivate students' interest. Describes the rationale, courses, delivery format, admissions, and program evaluation. (YP)

Examines whether the embodiment of a familiar geometric system facilitates better understanding of the vector-space concept than the embodiment of a variety of unfamiliar algebraic systems. Analyzes students' responses with description, final answer, and justification of answers. Provides six problems. (YP)

Describes a Skill Development Module fostering students' scientific reasoning skills within a school science laboratory. Summarizes the module activities in combination with computerized and non-computerized activities for a 16-week period. Discusses the classroom evaluation of the module. (YP)

Discusses the need for integration of science and mathematics education with a history of curriculum activities related to integration. Provides a bibliography of 67 references chosen by the School Science and Mathematics Association (SSMA) Early Childhood and Middle School Science and Mathematics Integration Task Force. (YP)

Reviews three computer software packages: "Mystery Objects," a science inquiry series for grades one-four; "Physics," covering physics content for high school and introductory college level; and a tutorial program "Sensei Geometry." Required hardware, price, and addresses for each software package are listed. (YP)

An overview is provided of 50 years of research on naive theories in human biology. A set of recommendations aimed at confronting student misconceptions and facilitating conceptual change about the structure and function of the human body is presented, with five lessons described. (MNS)

Imaginative ways of using calculators to explore decimal fractions with secondary school and some middle school students are given. Four explorations on terminating and repeating decimals, the length of periods, and relationships are described. An appendix presents mathematical proofs. (MNS)

The problem of checking associativity is explored to show the power of mathematical tools, and some by-products to which the process leads are noted. Testing for associativity, the number of trials, and additional questions about associativity are discussed. (MNS)

The goal of this article is to identify and disseminate several important messages from recent research on formal thought. Reasoning by adolescents, measurement of Piagetian formal reasoning, the importance of additional factors, stages, and working memory are discussed. (MNS)

Investigated was the influence on learner outcomes of the repeatable testing provision of Bloom's mastery learning model for ninth graders in an Introduction to Chemistry and Physics course. Neither student achievement nor attitude toward learning science was favorably influenced by repeatable testing. (MNS)

A random arrangement of two contrasting colors in a 20x20 array is used to facilitate students' understanding of the notions of randomness, independence, and long-run frequency. It can also be used to test some prevalent errors in probabilistic reasoning. Three activities are described. (MNS)

Reviewed is computer software on: (1) classification of living things, a tutorial program for grades 5-10; and (2) polynomial practice using tiles, a drill-and-practice program for algebra students. (MNS)

Suggested is the presentation of problems for which student teams are to write computer programs which will reveal the results of guesses at the answer by users of the program. Illustrative problems and programs are included. (MNS)

A sample of 180 students was given the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. Nonscience females were more often classified as feminine, while more females in science were classified as androgenous. No difference was found in the number of biological and physical science majors classified as feminine. (MNS)

Seventy fifth-grade students in Australia were observed as each solved a jigsaw puzzle. Boys obtained higher scores on a measure of cognitive style and took less time to complete the jigsaw task; the two measures were significantly correlated. Uses of tangrams are also discussed. (MNS)