This paper set emerged from an international symposium that aimed to shed light on issues associated with the enactment of inquiry both as means (i.e., inquiry as an instructional approach) and as ends (i.e., inquiry as a learning outcome) in precollege science classrooms. The symposium contributors were charged with providing perspectives from…

Reform efforts emphasize teaching science to promote contemporary views of the nature of science (NOS) and scientific inquiry. Within the framework of situated cognition, the assertion is that engagement in inquiry activities similar to those of scientists provides a learning context conducive to developing knowledge about the methods and…

Research has established that students enter their science classes with ideas about the natural world that do not align with accepted scientific beliefs. The diagnosis of these student preconceptions may be seen as an initial, crucial step in the process of teacher-facilitated conceptual change. So as to capture what science teachers do in their…

Investigates the role of the nature of science in decision making on science- and technology-based issues. Delineates factors and reasoning associated with types of decisions. Compares decision influence factors and decision-making strategies. Indicates that participants based their decisions primarily on personal values, morals/ethics, and social…

Delineates the factors that mediate the translation of preservice teachers' conceptions of the nature of science into instructional planning and classroom practice. Few references to the nature of science are found in the data. Contains 44 references. (DDR)

Identified classroom variables (teacher variables and classroom climate) which are related to changes in high school students' conceptions of the nature of science. Results discussed are based on data collected over a two-year period from 18 biology teachers and their 409 students. Implications for science instruction are addressed. (JN)

Reports on a study to test the validity of the assumption that a teacher's conception of the nature of science directly influences his/her classroom behavior. Recommends a redirection in science education to promote more adequate conceptions of the nature of science in secondary schools. (TW)

This summary of research developed by the ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education contains two main sections: Research on Teaching and Research on Learning. The first section contains subsections on Curriculum and Instruction, Science Teacher Education. Curriculum and Instruction, Cognition and Achievement, and…

Reports a study of 10 preservice biology teachers' subject matter structure (SMS). Using qualitative methods, the researchers sought to discover the nature and source of the SMS, the stability, and the relationship to the act of teaching. Among the conclusions are that these preservice teachers do not appear cognizant of their SMSs and that the…

Qualitatively studied the transfer of skills and perceptions developed in microteaching to the student teaching experience (n=17) and any changes in these skills and concerns throughout the duration of student teaching (n=6). Analysis of the data indicated 17 categories of subjects' perceptions, concerns, etc. (PR)

Investigated were students' beliefs about the tentativeness of scientific knowledge, various sources of students' beliefs as well as those factors that have altered students' beliefs about science, and the implications of students' beliefs for daily personal and societal decisions. The research methodology and instructional implications are…