This study, by questionnaire, of a cohort of university students, has clarified factors influencing course choice, particularly those relating to the role of schools. In-school experiences provided the earliest source of interest in science for the majority. Interest and success in previous studies were the most popular reasons given as the main…

Increasing availability of technology in schools means that more teachers will have the potential to implement student-centered, inquiry-based approaches to learning. Assessing what each student knows in a broad subject area is difficult. Describes methods to address this problem including tests and reliability. (Author/SAH)

Surveys some of the benefits claimed for data-logging methods identified through research. Discusses findings from research that sought to explore the translation of these benefits into the real-world of science classrooms and identify the range of influences on science teachers adopting and developing data-logging methods. (SAH)

Carries out a study into the choice of physics in secondary education against a background of disappointing percentages of students choosing exact and technical studies and the academic choice research tradition. Focuses on the predictive value of certain characteristics of the curriculum, the differences between schools, and the stability of the…

Discusses the origin and evolution of the meanings of the concepts 'amount of substance' and 'mole'. Identifies serious disagreements about these concepts among chemistry teachers and the recommendations of the international scientific community. Also draws attention to the didactic implications that these epistemological difficulties may have for…

Points out the importance of the Internet in education and discusses the complementary roles of oral and written teaching and learning. Analyzes the Knowledge Integration Environment (KIE) program. (Contains 13 references.) (YDS)

Comments on the research projects of the Knowledge Integration Environment (KIE) program. (YDS)

Comments on the Linn and Bell study on Knowledge Integration Environment (KIE) projects. (Contains 16 references.) (YDS)

Reviews and assesses the effectiveness of the attempts undertaken to improve prospective and practicing science teachers' conceptions of the nature of science (NOS). Categorizes reviews as implicit or explicit. Indicates that the explicit approach was more effective in enhancing teachers' views. Assumes that developing an understanding of NOS is…

Examines the possibility that language confusion can be mistaken for misconception. Uses a written test to diagnose physics misconceptions among South African students. Reports that in several cases distracters were chosen by subjects who did not hold the target misconceptions. Indicates that caution is needed in interpreting student responses to…

Considers substance identity and pupils' interaction with the scientific idea of melting and boiling behavior as a means for identification and assessment of purity. Presents evidence that suggests that children do not naturally have a concept of substance identity that allows them to recognize chemical change as a possibility. (Contains 31…

Exhibits are a way of self-guided presentation in which visitors use their own knowledge and understanding. Studies a self-guided group visiting an exhibition on dinosaurs which are displayed as robotic models. Finds that the animatronics have a well thought out storyline that increases family and school visitors' understanding of the exhibit…

Indicates the importance of preparing prospective teachers who will be elementary science teachers with different methods. Presents the theoretical and practical rationale for developing a constructivist-based elementary science methods course. Discusses the impact student knowledge and understanding of science and student attitudes has on…

Describes a study of a range of challenging activities centered on evaporation and condensation done with elementary school children. Analyzes children's explanations in light of the existing literature. Finds that older children display a surer sense of ontological categories, greater epistemological sophistication, greater precision in language…

Grounded theory may be used to bridge case studies and large-scale surveys as it enables the strengths of both to be combined in the same research program. Presents one example of the application of a grounded theory approach to research into science learning, and considers the generalizability of the research results. (Contains 33 references.)…