Describes an approach to teaching physics to science teachers using the history of science. Reports that history becomes more useful to teachers when explicitly combined with investigative experimentation, which in turn can benefit from various uses of the history of science. Contains 18 references. (JRH)

Describes how ancient Greek philosophers came to the concept of atoms at a time when the huge amount of experimental and theoretical information of today was not available. Concludes that similar experiences can be used in teaching the concept today. (JRH)

Describes an approach to teaching atomic, nuclear, and particle physics using the history of the most important discoveries in that field. Uses the manuscripts, first publications, measurements and data of initial discoveries, and the photos of apparatus and of famous physicists to arouse student interest. Presents examples from the life and work…

Discusses Zoltan Bay's unpublished paper "Old Education, New Teaching." Highlights the need for order in education which originates in the general order of nature and the great step by which the natural sciences allowed humankind to understand and control more and more of the natural world. (JRH)

Presents examples of how the history of domestic physics might help in seeking new ideas that are unavoidable for the transformations taking place in Slovakia. Discusses refining domestic physics history, the influence of totalitarian systems on science in Slovakia, what is meant by "Slovak science," the role of Czech universities and physicists,…

Describes the programs in astronomy at the Gothard Astrophysical Observatory in close association with the Physics Department of the Teacher Training College, the main goals of which are the scholarly pursuit of research and training of creative and productive teachers for Hungarian Primary Schools. (JRH)

In the late 1980s an American newspaper reported that by one measure--the number of patents cited by successive inventors--Japan overtook the United States in the number of inventions produced during the 1970s. The reasons for this are not clear, but educational efforts promoting creative behaviors in school children are probably essential and…

Argues that science education must reflect that science is a way of thinking--in fact, more comprehensively, a way of being; and second and that the fundamentally antiauthoritarian spirit of science must be reconciled with education, with its built-in tendency to be authoritarian. (PR)

Describes the impact of nationalism on American science education during the period 1750 to 1830. (PR)

The most general conclusion from analyzing 702 high school students' answers to questionnaires is that many students confuse different major environmental problems, particularly global warming and ozone-layer depletion. There is also a student linking of radioactive contamination, acid rain, and biodiversity reduction. (PR)

Describes how Connecticut high school students and teachers perceived the role of physics as it is taught in the schools. It also reports student performance on a set of questions concerning mechanics that was designed to test their knowledge of basic principles. (PR)

Describes collaborations of college French classes using electronic mail. Suggests that this type of task-oriented learning through distance-communication is applicable at many different course levels and has considerable merit as an approach to teaching and learning. (PR)

Discusses reasons for the failing of the computer in schools and universities, including: hardware emphasis, little focus on learning, little focus on students, software-based failure (elitist programs and weak interaction), the "idea of the moment," relation between information and learning, failure of teacher education, lack of empirical…

Describes a framework called scaffolded knowledge integration and illustrates how it guided the design of two successful course enhancements in the field of computer science and engineering: the LISP Knowledge Integration Environment and the spatial reasoning environment. (101 references) (Author/MKR)

Discusses the way that the Open University of the Netherlands has been developing a practical natural sciences degree program, gives examples of alternatives for traditional practical work, and presents advantages and disadvantages of traditional practical work. (17 references) (Author/MKR)