Attempts to analyze the effects of advance organizers on an environmental education unit, assess retention of the instructional material one year later, and determine if changes in perceptions of a woodland occurred. (GA)

Examines science education research studies concerned with the development of formal thinking in adolescents according to Piagetian theory. (Author/GA)

Presents the transformation in the models of science teaching from 1945 to the present; compares current science education in Japan with that in the United States. (Author/GA)

Discusses and refutes Novak's arguments against Piaget's theory of intellectual development in favor of Ausubel's theory of meaningful verbal learning. (GA)

Describes the development of an instrument which is: (1) is capable of administration to students in grades 6-14; (2) requires the examinee to construct a conceptual answer from information provided; (3) requires the examinee to use the seven major logical operations (classification, seriation, logical multiplication, compensation, ratio,…

Examines Piaget's learning theories and his endorsement of the biological viewpoints of Jean Baptiste de Lamarck. Particular points in Piaget's theories and their relationships to Lamarck's biology are discussed. (CP)

Discusses the development, goals, syllabus and evaluation of a four semester hour credit human-centered college biology course for nonscience majors. Brief annotations of sub units of the course are provided. In the course, the use of science-related periodical articles is encouraged. (CP)

Assesses the history and current trends in astronomy education. Emphasis is placed in precollege science education. Recommendations to remedy the current low emphasis on astronomy in the secondary education curriculum are advanced. (CP)

Advocates the use of a free-sort categorization technique for evaluation of higher-order science instructional objectives. An explanation and demonstration of the use of the evaluation technique with 284 ninth-grade science students is provided. (CP)

Defines educational importance, multidimensionality, and economy to be essential criteria in the selection of attitude scales for curriculum evaluation. Five scales meeting the requirements are selected and tested with 1,158 Australian seventh-grade students. Scores on the attitude scales and correlations of scores with socioeconomic status,…

Utilizes a pretest-posttest design to determine if participants (N=26) exhibit significant gains in organic, inorganic, and biological chemistry concepts as the result of a six-week summer program. Significant gains in these areas and in an understanding of the methods and procedures used in scientific explanation are found. (CP)

Assesses elementary school teachers' needs through use of the Moore Assessment Profile. One hundred and seven K-6 teachers responded to the survey. Factor analysis revealed that the sample perceived four need areas: (1) providing realistic science experiences; (2) developing basic science skills; (3) developing an understanding of the relationship…

Describes validation procedures involving the Moyer Unobtrusive Survey of Environmental Attitudes (MUSEA) instrument in use with 379 seventh grade students. (CP)

Four tasks which are frequently used to evaluate adolescent reasoning skill: (1) the pendulum task; (2) the ramp problem; (3) the cart experiment; and (4) the invisible magnetism experiment are analyzed to determine the Piagetian concepts that each measures. (CP)

A colliding spheres type of experiment is used with several hundred 4-12 grade students to test for knowledge of the concept of controlling variables. Results support the contention that the concept is developed gradually during the concept stage but not fully attained until around 14 years of age. (CP)