Administered a questionnaire containing common earth/space science alternative conceptions to preservice elementary teachers (n=122). Suggests that many misconceptions originate in the classroom and that preservice elementary education teachers have many of the same misconceptions that their future students will have. (35 references) (Author/JRH)

Administered two standard measures of spatial aptitude to several hundred elementary education majors. Reports that the men in the group significantly outperformed the women, men and women choosing to specialize in science and math scored significantly higher than their non-science-math peers, and there was no significant difference between men…

Examined seventh grade students' (n=24) conceptions of science, technology, and society (STS) issues. Reports that both male and female students at this grade level have developed clear conceptions of STS issues that are relevant to them personally; however, they had not developed clear conceptions of broader environmental issues. Discusses…

A report of how literature books can be used to create authentic contexts for teaching science at the second-grade level is presented. Points out that, instead of relying on expensive technologies, teachers could use carefully selected reading materials to provide students with meaningful contexts for science learning activities. (LZ)

Students in general and science-oriented curriculum courses used concept mapping as the basis for developing lesson plans after having first learned the technique through a "fast-track" approach developed by the author. Resulting lesson plans were high in quality with few, if any, sequencing errors. (LZ)

Learning styles of elementary education majors in biology were compared to learning styles of students in a general nonmajors biology course. A program which taught psychological type theory and matched and mismatched students' learning styles was incorporated into a biology course for elementary education majors. (LZ)

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency with which elementary teachers taught science over a four-week period, and which teaching strategies they utilized during that time frame one year after extensive inservice training. Results show 61.5% taught science 16 or more times over the 4 weeks. (LZ)

Examines teachers' differing uses of student-gathered data during science investigations. The results show that student language use and concept understanding differed between two different instructional approaches. Suggestions are provided for using student-gathered data in teaching elementary school science. (LZ)

Reports on program effectiveness for the Teacher Internship Program for Science (TIPS), a museum-school partnership. Survey results show that significantly more TIPS teachers involved their students in various science instruction activities, and TIPS teachers rated their students higher in interest in and understanding of science. (LZ)

An ethnographic study of spontaneous conversations of elementary children and their accompanying adults during a zoo field trip was conducted. (LZ)

Reports on a study undertaken to validate the practicality of using the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (Perceived Form) (CLES) in a preservice elementary science methods course. Suggestions are made to potentially revise the CLES for more accurate measures in college classrooms. (LZ)

Discusses the field of evolution of the affective domain in socially oriented innovative science and technology curricula. Procedures for evaluation of affective curricula within the science classroom and a summative evaluation of socio-technological oriented innovative science curricula are also included. (DS)

Discusses general education and basic subjects as well as vocational education (general-technical education in particular) in terms of the logical and epistemological qualities. Basic general-technical subjects and their peculiarities are also discussed. Suggests a new principle of teaching, namely, the principle of integration. (Author/DS)

Discusses how all applications of mathematics have a unifying theme, namely, that of mathematical modeling. Three examples of models in science and technology are briefly described. These are suggested as suitable project work in the classroom, which involve collaborative work between science and mathematics. Advantages and benefits of modeling…

Described is part of the O.P.E. laboratory computer-based biology program designed for undergraduate medical and biology students. Described is an embryology dialogue in which the student proceeds through three stages in the knowledge and understanding of the concept of competence. (Author/DS)