An alternative procedure to the draw-a-scientist test (DAST) was used to uncover students ideas about science, scientists, and technology. A series of illustrations (based on the interview-about-instances (IAI) procedure) concerned with appearance, gender, work place, and employment were developed. Through interviews, students (n=121) responded to…

Information on the content of the intended science curriculum, what science was actually taught by the teachers, and how that science was taught is presented. Student achievement and attitudes were assessed using tests and questionnaires. Data were obtained from teachers regarding whether the content had been taught to the students (n=657) who…

Students' ideas about technology (their concept of it and their attitude toward it) are described. From students' (n=89) own descriptions of technology and their responses to concept items on a questionnaire, it appeared that they have a broad, but biased, concept of technology. Consequences for technology teacher training programs are discussed.…

The development and validation of a Learning Style Questionnaire (LSQ) for use with upper primary school children studying science in an Asian context are described. Four important learning dimensions were identified: (1) concrete-abstract; (2) passive-active; (3) low-high self-confidence/self-esteem; and (4) superficial-deep motivation. (KR)

Eleven-year-old secondary school students (N=2065) were given a variety of attitude and achievement tests. Although both boys and girls had positive attitudes toward science, boys preferred studying physical science while girls preferred studying biology. Implications of these and other findings are discussed. (Author/JN)

Presents a theoretical framework for and a detaled description of a model for teaching scientific analogies. The framework focuses on the definition of an analogy, analogical learning, variables related to analogical learning, evaluating outcomes of analogical limiting, and limitations of using analogies in teaching. (JN)

Investigated the self-esteem of physics teachers of students taking pre-service physics teacher education courses. Findings indicate that students who dropped out from the courses had lower self-esteem than either students who satisfactorily completed them or similarly qualified students who did not take the courses. Implications for teacher…

Assessed and compared the attitudes of a national random sample of students who were in junior high school during 1976-77 with the attitudes of a national sample of this same cohort in 1981-82. Implications of findings (related to various attitude categories) for science curriculum development are addressed. (JN)

Compared the outcomes achieved by students taking biology courses based on either the revised/updated West African Examination Council (WAEC) syllabus or a WAEC-developed alternative syllabus which emphasizes relationships to agriculture, nutrition, and other practical topics. Also examined factors associated with these outcomes, including teacher…

Investigated the claims made by science teachers as to how they write and use worksheets, validating these claims against an analysis of worksheets collected from these teachers. Some weakness of readability theory in terms of validity and reliability when applied to these materials are discussed. (JN)

Investigated use of overhead transparencies containing a sequence of diagrams to represent a three-dimensional structure at different stages during a rotation. Significant learning occurred among 120 Bahraini boys (aged 15-16) when the transparencies contained multi-colored diagrams which were exposed simultaneously or individually in a cumulative…

Investigated the effect on student performance of changes in question structure and sequence on a GCE 0-level multiple-choice chemistry test. One finding noted is that there was virtually no change in test reliability on reducing the number of options (from five to per test item). (JN)

This investigation showed no sex difference between boys and girls with regard to practical work at the end of their first year of secondary school and no difference between schools and groupings (all boys, all girls, mixed schools with mixed science classes, and mixed schools with single sex science classes). (JN)

Surveyed the sponsorship of engineering students by employers by collecting data related to: engineering departments; sponsoring and non-sponsoring employers; student competition for sponsorship; and possible course/university restrictions by employers. Employers offering sponsorships consider them to be of great value in ensuring supplies of…

Investigated male/female sixth-formers studying physical and biological science A-level courses, examining cognitive style, convergent/divergent thinking, career plans, and other characteristics. Differences between biology/physics students tend to be of the same kind as those between scientists as a whole compared to nonscientists. (JN)