Analyzes student discourse in 4 grade-12 lab groups working on microcomputer-based laboratories. Analysis reveals the role the computer plays in the group context and the ways that this context is shaped by the computer. Contains 22 references. (Author/JRH)

Describes a case study of an expert teacher's questioning strategies during an open-inquiry engineering curriculum in a grade four and five classroom. Analysis provides evidence for the complexity of questioning that is characterized by the interactions of context and content of, and response and reactions to, questions. Contains 45 references.…

Investigates secondary science and mathematics teacher (n=56) familiarity with research on gender equity in science and the variety of interventions consciously used by teachers to promote gender equity. Results indicate that teachers are concerned about gender equity in their classrooms and reported interventions are consistent with those…

Analyzes ways in which biology is taught by experienced teachers and discusses contexts in which specific teaching strategies seemed successful. Analyses of teachers' responses reveals complex relationships among their perception of what was distinctive about their biology program and students, allocation of class time, efforts to individualize…

Reports on a study undertaken to develop research rubrics for a performance assessment of science processes and evaluate seventh-grade science students' ability to perform them. Focuses on the processes of recording data, analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and providing evidence. Reports that only 61% of the students performed the activity and…

Discusses the viability of cognitive apprenticeship for learning science in relation to findings from an investigation of a research project involving high school students working in a university chemical engineering laboratory under the mentorship of a university-based scientist. Reports that students were empowered to seek empirically viable…

Discusses various aspects of standardization and testing in science education and their effects on students and on reform efforts. Argues that science educators need to begin to question the system and their practices with regard to testing and need to be willing to act on the answers they find. Contains 10 references. (JRH)

Focuses on theoretical underpinnings of social constructivism and multicultural education and aspects of social constructivism that can provide frameworks for research in multicultural science education. Attempts to persuade other researchers to expand their research and teaching efforts into multicultural science education. Illustrates a blending…

Analyzes group discourse (n=24) during laboratory investigations in order to understand how students solve scientific problems and the ways social roles shape the development and articulation of arguments. Results indicate that knowledge building depends on students learning to use tools of the scientific community and the social context in which…

Describes an elementary school teacher's implementation of authentic assessment strategies, in her science class. Discusses her use of different strategies including science logs, performance assessment, creative drama, scrapbooks, and interviews. Highlights factors that contributed to successful implementation of assessment strategies,…

Assesses students' learning of evolution by natural selection within four different sections of an introductory biology course where each section used a different combination of curricular materials and instruction. Reports that comparisons between sections support the use of paired problem-solving instructional strategy in conjunction with the…

Assesses patterns of enrollment in science, science achievement, and attitudes of students in grades 3-12 representing the 4 major ethnic groups in Hawaii. Results indicate that more differences were accounted for by ethnicity and even grade than by gender and there was little interaction between ethnicity and gender. Contains 78 references.…

Deals with the problem of the proper interpretation of discourse between students and teachers in classrooms. Presents several interpretations of a concrete classroom protocol in terms of misconceptions. Draws on Davidson's principle of charity and distinguishes between belief and meaning to present an analysis that interprets the discourse…

Uses videotaped lectures and interviews to understand lectures in a physics course for prospective elementary teachers. Reports that the professor staged Aristotle, natural philosophy, and students' observations and intuitive knowledge in opposition to Galileo, controlled experiments, and mathematical inscriptions. Concludes that this form of…

Investigates the nature of small-group social interactions in the mediation of children's science learning. Reports that the teacher mediated the children's small-group science learning through discourse that negotiated children's status, actions, and meaning, as well as through discourse that established the normative structure of the small…