This study compares inservice (n=30) and preservice (n=30) earth and space science teachers on general mental abilities, content knowledge, Gagnean levels of content knowledge, and procedural knowledge in solving earth and space science problems. Results support Norman's theory of learning that inservice teachers function at the tuning mode of…

This paper examines how some fundamental mechanisms of nervous system activity can explain human information processing and the acquisition of knowledge and provides additional theoretical support for constructivist applications to science education reform. The implications for scientific epistemology and conceptual change processes in science…

This study investigated the relationship between factors believed to contribute to the formation of environmental attitudes by college nonscience majors (n=136) attending an environmental studies course. Factors investigated included environmental attitudes, decision defensibility, and the linkage of affective and cognitive domains. Reports that…

This research used semistructured interviews to investigate students' (n=32) understanding of electrochemistry following a 7-9 week course of instruction. Three misconceptions were identified and incorporated with five previously reported into an alternative framework about electric current involving drifting electrons. Also noted was the tendency…

Two years after the end of a two-year intervention program set within the context of science learning intended to promote formal operational thinking, achievement of students (n=234) was tested by their results on British National examinations taken at age 16. Male experimental subjects achieved an average of 40 percent more grades of C or above…

This study examined the relationship that exists between high school teachers' (n=25) understanding of the Piagetian developmental model of intelligence; its inherent teaching procedure, the learning cycle, and classroom teaching practices. The teachers who exhibited a sound understanding of the model were more likely to effectively implement the…

This study reports on a survey in Minnesota designed to provide a picture of the instructional styles that are used by seventh- and eighth-grade science teachers (n=139). Although relationships exist, it appears that seventh- and eighth-grade teachers are individualistic and diverse in their reported teaching technique preferences. (PR)

Surveyed teachers' perceptions of the SCIS-II elementary science program. Results indicate that grades K-2 teachers rated the program more positively than grades 3-6 teachers. Teachers who rated the program higher perceived fewer barriers to effectively utilizing the program. Teachers rated the program higher for developing social skills and…

Classroom interactions were examined for gender differences that may contribute to the underrepresentation of women in physics and engineering courses and subsequent careers. (PR)

Responses of 322 university sophomores (education majors) on an evolution problem "How could the bat have evolved wings?" are analyzed and classified. Concludes that misunderstandings are logical. (PR)

Found grades in science achieved by tenth-grade general science students correlated with their scores on Propositional Logic Test. The students' ability level was consistently related to the pattern of errors they committed on that measure. Mean scores were lowest on a subtest of ability to use the bicondition and implication, higher on the…

Seventh-grade students (n=397) were studied to determine the effect on immediate achievement and retention of a unit designed to promote the development of estimating skills involved in metric measuring. Identical metric instruction was used with the exception of activities in estimation for the treatment group. The treatment group retained…

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)

This article describes the genesis and development of concept mapping as a tool for science education. It also offers an overview of this special issue of the "Journal of Research in Science Teaching" and comments on the current state of knowledge representation. Suggestions for further research are made. (49 references) (Author/PR)

This study sought to find out whether concept mapping reduces anxiety and thereby enhances achievement in biology. A total of 51 grade-10 students participated in the experiment. Findings indicate concept mapping is significantly more effective than traditional teaching in enhancing learning in biology and reducing student anxiety toward biology.…