Initial textbook investigations indicate that more new words/phrases are introduced than in a similar time frame in which foreign languages are studied. Reviews these initial studies, studies of vocabulary mastery in foreign languages, and general research concerning vocabulary development. Reports on occurrence of technical/special words in 25…

Examined management behaviors of junior high science teachers (N=16) and the relationship to task involvement of students operating in small group laboratory settings. Results of 91 observations indicate that teacher behavior was directed in three ways: whole class, small groups, and nonclass related. Implications for science instruction are…

Investigated effects of increasing middle school teachers' (N=40) wait time on general questioning skills in science teaching. Four groups (10 teachers each) were used: control; group receiving printed guides on discussion/techniques; group using an electronic feedback device; group using both guides and feedback device. Results, conclusions, and…

Investigated 90 Form Two students' (grade nine equivalent in USA) alternative conceptions and instructional strategies to affect change from alternative to scientific conceptions. Results indicate significantly larger improvement in acquisition of science concepts (mass, volume, density) by experimental groups resulting from strategies/materials…

Documented training and educational activities of preservice elementary education majors (N=20) to determine what (if any) aspects of their science training contribute to developing the apprehension elementary teachers have toward science, science education, and science instruction. Results, conclusions, and implications are reported from the…

Compared laboratory and naturalistic content influences on formal reasoning tasks of 90 13-, 15-, and 17-year-olds, focusing on tasks requiring ability to control variables. Results indicate that 8 to 20 percent of performance variance was associated with task content. Content effects were also shown to reflect expectations about task variables.…

Reported and discussed are data collected from 50 states concerning the professional preparation of state science consultants, the nature of the positions, number of workers employed in such units, changes in support staff, facilities, and budget for each five-year interval between 1960 and 1980. Eight trends resulting from the data analysis are…

Ascertained influence of an intervention in development of operational seriation/transitivity in kindergarten/first-grade children (N=60) who initially failed to demonstrate ability to do seriation/transitivity problems. Seriation of size was also studied. Results, interpreted in context of Piaget's equilibrium theory, indicated advancement toward…

Compared effectiveness of teacher-demonstration and self-paced modes of teaching concepts and problem-solving skills in college chemistry. Results showed the self-paced mode significantly more effective for teaching concepts and problem-solving skills. Results of an attitude test also showed that most students (N=60) preferred the self-paced…

A mathematical model of information acquisition is presented and empirically evaluated in comparison to evidence obtained from experimental studies of science content acquisition. Implications of the model for human information acquisition and future research are discussed in the context of the unique theoretical framework of the model. (Author/JN)

Investigated relationships of mathematics/science achievement, science self-concept, and sex to science career preferences of Black male (N=113) and female (N=148) junior high school students. Findings suggest that early adolescent science career preferences are related more to interests consonant with sex-role considerations than realistic…

Examined effect of two classroom climates (discovery and nondiscovery) on learning of science process skills and content achievement of college students (N=78). Results indicate that students in both climates achieved equally well, but students in the discovery climate achieved higher process scores as measured by the Welch Science Process…

Three psychometric methods for validating learning hierarchies were applied to one data set derived from student responses (N=269) to items representing skills in a hypothesized hierarchy for the mole concept. The hierarchy derived from the analysis was supported by a test for transfer of learning from subordinate to superordinate skills.…

Investigated whether students perceive science classroom environment in significantly different ways depending on their science teacher's sex. Reported differences (such as perceiving classes taught by males as more difficult), and possible relationships between these differences and changes in girl's preference for science are discussed.…

Investigated importance, according to teachers (N=257), of a validated list of 10 aims for school practical work at three grade levels. Also investigated the orientation of students (N=724) toward these same aims (expressed as influences) and compared aims for teachers with influences as perceived by students. (Author/JN)