Examines relations between the philosophy of science, scientific research methods, and the methods of school science teaching. Discusses a "Standard Philosophy of Science" and a "New Philosophy of Science." Proposes that the epistemological, sociological, and psychological aspects of scientific knowledge are important conditions for developing…

Reviews research related to teaching and learning higher cognitive level objectives from a constructivist perspective. Examines several factors including the cognitive demands of academic work, classroom management, delivery of instruction, formal reasoning ability, grouping of students, and motivation to learn. Concludes that an active teaching…

Discusses some difficulties in teaching the concept of voltage to secondary school students. Presents and describes the content of a teaching sequence introducing voltage as a primary concept through relationships with other variables. Provides an example of the delivery of the teaching model. (YP)

Examined were the relationships between three qualities: students' knowledge of chemical terms, the relationships they recognize between these terms, and their achievement. Used were an explanation test, an achievement test, and a connectivity test. Results indicated knowledge of terms was a necessary, but not sufficient, prerequisite for…

Investigates commonsense knowledge schemes connecting the elements weight, air, and gravity to the phenomena of free fall of a range of students from primary school children to adults. Finds that majority of people from the secondary education level onwards held alternative schemes. Discusses educational impacts of mass media. (Author/YP)

Investigates students' experiences and attitudes about experiences in biology and human biology courses. Finds that activities which require imaginative abilities are often lacking, and notetaking and simple recall are major features of the students' experiences. Discusses some suggestions regarding these courses. (Author/YP)

Examined the effects of an instructional method used to remedy students' difficulties caused by fragmented and incorrectly interpreted knowledge. Described the method using explicit concept-interpretation procedures. Finds that the method helped to revise students' deficient prior knowledge about acceleration, and helped them to interpret it…

Investigates the development of dynamics concepts with one group aged 12-14, and other group aged 14-16. Collects data from Assessment of Performance in Science tasks, Piagetian tasks, and classroom science curriculum. Discusses the interaction of cognitive development and classroom experience in the development of concepts. (Author/YP)

Shows the difficulties of understanding the hypothesis a posteriori. Describes a scientific method containing phenomenologic, hypothetic, and theoretic phases. Provides the results of an experiment on simple pendulum oscillation by using this method. (YP)

Discusses the possibilities of accelerating the rate of cognitive development and describes the design and trial of intervention lessons. Gives preliminary results from one laboratory school indicating that the possibility of accelerating general cognitive development is worth pursuing. (YP)

Suggests that the overall educational experience of science aspirants has an indirect and latent role in preparing future types of researchers. Discusses arguments concerning the relationship between cognitive inclinations and educational experience, and how problem-solver and problem-identifier type students respond to educational dilemmas. (YP)

Delineates a concept of scientific literacy as it relates to the Nigerian situation. Examines the relevance and implications of scientific literacy to the educational system and national security. Suggests how scientific literacy can be encouraged through science programs, especially in elementary science education. (YP)

Describes 10 steps for developing a diagnostic test of students' misconceptions and the use of two tests in chemistry (covalent bonding and structure) and in biology (photosynthesis and respiration in plants). Discusses the results and some implications for teaching science. (YP)

Describes biological competitions at the high school level in Poland. Argues that they can be used to enhance and maintain students' interest in the subject. (Author/YP)

Examines whether participation in physical experiments together with social interaction with adults and school-mates favor the development of causal knowledge and the understanding of a complex physical subject. Concludes that the treatments can lead students to give up pre-causal explanations and to resort to physical ones. (Author/YP)