Graduate students entered our online classrooms with robust, but nonscientific, opinions on climate change. To expose students to critical analysis of media and emphasize the nature of science, we required them to access scientific reports and participate in mandatory peer discussions. An introductory survey probed incoming knowledge and opinions,…

A new challenge in science education at the university level is the implementation of effective field components within online courses. In nationwide online graduate geoscience courses composed of practicing teachers (N = 130), Google Earth laboratory exercises were incorporated to provide virtual field experiences. Student opinions of these…

An experiential science program, such as a summer course at a field station, requires unique assessment tools. Traditional assessment via a pencil-and-paper exam cannot capture the essential skills and concepts learned at a summer field station. Therefore, the authors developed a pre- and postcourse image-based analysis to evaluate student…

Mixed methods research conducted across three semesters in introductory college geology classes (n=187, 190, 138) attempted to ascertain whether integrated study of petrified wood could serve as a portal to improved student geobiological understanding of fossilization, geologic time, and evolution. The Petrified Wood Survey[TM] was administered as…

The purpose of this research study was to (a) describe how concept mapping can be used as an integral instructional strategy for teaching a college course in evolution, (b) evaluate the utility of incorporating concept mapping in a college course on evolution, (c) determine whether students' concept maps reveal "critical junctures" in learning as…

Explores the use of concept mapping in a college course on evolution and the effect of the use of graphics in the instructional process on the construction of a concept map. Results indicate a positive correlation between concept map scores and the number of graphics used by the instructor during lecture. (JRH)

Describes a newsletter produced by the science education program at Louisiana State University that serves as an information conduit for the university's science departments. The newsletter fills an information void by identifying science seminar opportunities, innovative teaching projects, and grant activity on the campus. (PR)

Discusses a study which explored the possible value of the history of science to understanding student misconceptions. Focused on photosynthesis and examined relationships between students' conceptual difficulties and the transformation of concepts through time. Student responses suggest that the history of science can be used to anticipate…

Determined if junior high school students prefer to study plants or animals and if their preferences are related to variables of grade level and/or sex. Findings show that, overall, students prefer animal study over plant study. Other findings (such as girls having a greater interest in biological topics than boys) are discussed. (JN)

Summarizes the results of a preferred method of study questionnaire in which college students explained how they approached reading a new textbook. Reports that women showed a significant preference for adopting a single method of study. Indicates that there was no discernable relationship between study strategies and college level. (CW)

After proposing and defining the superordinate concept of "historicality," fundamental interrelationships between time, events, memory, meaning, personal knowledge, public knowledge, and the histories of science are explored. Relevant research findings that demonstrate the confluence of scholarly thought concerning historicality across five…

Tested Richard Duschl's triadic model of the growth of scientific knowledge against research practices of 10 accomplished life scientists. Reports that the scientists were willing to change their aims, methods, or theories and were both realists and relativists depending on the scientific discourse about the phenomena in question. Discusses…

Reports a study based on concerns of the editor of the "Journal of Research in Science Teaching" regarding fairness and equity for qualitative studies submitted to this journal. Examined 1991 articles and concluded there is no bias against qualitative research. There was a lower rate of reviewer agreement for qualitative studies but no higher…

Because concept maps are designed to find out what the learner knows about a subject and are, in effect, maps of cognition, this article synthesizes relevant facts, concepts, and principles from cartography and applies them to concept mapping. The metaphor of the map and its applicability for representing scientific concepts are discussed. (PR)

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