Investigated the validity of the assumption that arranging items in objective tests in order of increasing difficulty increases student motivation and produces more reliable tests. Results indicate that test reliability was largely independent of item sequence. (Author/JN)

Compared effectiveness of two inservice programs differing in length (long: N=296; short: N=140) and energy-related content on teacher attitudes. Although programs had differing effects on attitudes toward curriculum change and beliefs about science and science education, effects on teachers' opinions on energy issues were the same. (JN)

Investigated relationships between visual-spatial abilities and achievement and what influence these abilities have on the high attribution rate characteristic of many introductory college-level science courses. Results, among others, using physics students (N=136) and nonscience majors (N=52), indicate that visual-spatial abilities influence…

Determined effects of various methods and formats on subjects' (N=253) responses to a Piagetian reasoning problem requiring control of variables. Results indicate that format but not method of task administration influences subjects' performance and that the influence is similar for various combinations of methods and format. (Author/JN)

Compared levels of formal operational thought of students tested before and after entering science programs. Results indicate considerable numbers of students at transitional levels on each occasion, low correlations between cognitive level and grades, and significant development in levels of cognitive thought during the National High School…

Investigated women's (N=35) aptitude for and changes in skills during an engineering training program and the relationship between academic/demographic information and cognitive skills to success in the program. Compares results with those of studies of male undergraduates. Includes results of mathematics anxiety and conservation of horizontality…

Discusses the science education research agenda from the viewpoints of learning theorists, political and social scientists, counseling psychologists, cognition psychologists, and pedagogical researchers. Indicates that a broader perspective of these areas helps to link the research agenda to science teachers' questions/concerns, and to such areas…

Investigated factors which influenced teachers' (N=5) behaviors during the implementation of an audio-tutorial freshman college biology course in a high school setting and developed a structural model showing the interrelationships of these factors. (JN)

Investigated classroom management practices in 26 classes taught by 13 junior high and middle/junior high school teachers using student-on-task, off-task, and disruptive student behaviors as primary criteria of management effectiveness. Effective management practices for general classroom procedures, laboratory procedures, managing student…

Reports on the development of a paper-pencil instrument which consists of five concrete experiences related to environmental concepts. Results indicate an acceptable level of validity. Results also show that the reasoning level of adolescents was well below the theoretical levels predicted for them by theory. (Author/JN)

Results of this study indicate that students' (N=155) self-concepts and gender role perceptions were related to both achievement and attitudes toward science, but more related to attitudes than achievement. In addition, these relationships became more pronounced for students as they matured from seventh to eighth graders. (Author/JN)

Investigated: (1) "potent" testing cues that were identified by high-test-anxious (HTA) and low-test-anxious (LTA) undergraduate students (N=133); (2) differences between HTA (N=93) and LTA (N=40) students for frequencies and intensities of responses to testing cues; and (3) differences between HTA and LTA students for attentional direction to…

Applies Kuhn's model of the structure of scientific revolutions, Popper's hypothetic-deductive model of science, and Lakatos' methodology of competing research programs to a historical biological episode. Suggests using Kuhn's model (emphasizing the nonrational basis of science) and Popper's model (emphasizing the rational basis of science) in…

Determined which of 10 rational thinking powers are measured by 12 commercially-available standardized science tests. One result reported is that 90 percent of the test items required only recall. The conclusion was drawn that the producers of standardized tests are not concerned with measuring student achievement of the rational powers.…

Describes methods designed to add new studies to published meta-analysis results, focusing on a procedure using Bayesian analysis and showing how new findings complement previous meta-analysis and extend its conclusions. Also considers how studies are to be weighted, which variables are to be examined, and how often meta-analyses are to be…