Finds that chemistry learning is conceptualized by gymnasium teachers as gaining knowledge, problem-solving, and constructing personal understandings. (Author/CCM)

Explains Knowledge Integration Environment (KIE) activities which are designed to promote lifelong science learning. Describes the partnership process that guided the design as well as the Scaffolded Knowledge Integration (SKI) framework that gave the partnership a head start on creating effective materials. (Contains 52 references.) (Author/YDS)

Examines how students use evidence, determines when they add further ideas and claims, and measures progress in understanding light propagation. Uses the Scaffolded Knowledge Integration (SKI) instructional framework for design decisions. Discusses design studies that test and elaborate on the instructional framework. (Contains 33 references.)…

Encouraging students to be autonomous is an important goal of the Scaffolded Knowledge Integration (SKI) framework. Investigates learning and design questions. Indicates that prompting students to reflect significantly increases knowledge integration in science projects. Shows that self-monitoring prompts, which encourage planning for and…

Discusses whether students can learn science from carefully designed online peer discussions. Contrasts two formats of contributed comments--historical debate and narrative text--and assesses the impact of an asynchronous discussion on student understanding of the nature of light. Reports that students gain integrated understanding of the nature…

Indicates that access to the Internet increases variability in media and source authority for students who generally rely on teachers and textbooks. Explores the question of how source authority and media-enhancements impact students' interpretation of evidence as they conduct a Knowledge Integration Environment (KIE) project as part of integrated…

Absences from school present a major obstacle to students gaining understanding of concepts developed in class. Investigates an alternative procedure for making up missed class work: viewing a quasi-interactive videotaped presentation of missed portions of a learning cycle in chemistry. (Author/SAH)

Examines student views about the interpretation of experimental data within a specified science context. A written survey was completed by 731 students drawn from upper secondary schools and universities in five European countries. Data support previous studies that found that science students tend not to recognize the role of theoretical models…

Reports on an exploratory study in which innovations in a piece of high school physics curriculum have been converted into innovations in methods and contents for physics teacher education. The case study concerns the teaching of physics modeling in a pre-service teacher training course. (Author/SAH)

Investigates the effects of Science-Technology-Society instruction on a group of Taiwanese female 10th grade students' cognitive structure outcomes. Examines the role of student scientific epistemological beliefs on such effects. (Author/SAH)

Studies memories of exhibits to explore the contribution of science centers to scientific literacy in the general population. Visitors participated in a structured interview about two exhibits they found interesting at the time of the initial visit and one month later. (Author/SAH)

Establishes whether the use of the newly developed audiopilot facilitates both hands-on exploration and the understanding of scientific principles in a science center. Suggests that auditory commentaries are a good way of communicating difficult scientific concepts, especially to girls. (Author/SAH)

Undertakes a survey of the superstitious and pseudo-scientific beliefs of secondary students with some follow-up interviews. Finds gender differences at all ages with females generally less skeptical than males. Also, many school students were very gullible and this should be of concern to science educators. (Author/SAH)

Discusses the various aspects of explanations that make up an explanatory framework and the notion of pedagogical content knowledge. Analyzes an exemplary set of physics explanations to identify the individual and holistic characteristics of an effective explanation. (Author/SAH)

A longitudinal study of students (n=250) following the Salters Advanced Chemistry course probed a range of chemical ideas including the exothermicity of bond formation and the development of thinking about covalent, ionic, and intermolecular bonds. At the start, many students demonstrated misunderstandings about these chemical ideas, but their…