A recent reform initiative in the Malaysian educational system has sought to develop "Smart schools", intended to better prepare students for adult life in a developing economy and to increase the flow of young people prepared for scientific and technological careers. The study reported in this paper examined lower-secondary science…

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that might be associated with students' attitudes towards science. The participants were 1745 students from secondary schools and universities across Australia. The results of factor analysis, descriptive statistics, Tukey's post hoc test and correlation analysis demonstrate that there…

This study investigated the differential effects of two modes of instructional program (conceptual change oriented and traditionally designed) and gender difference on students' understanding of heat and temperature concepts, and their attitudes toward science as a school subject. The subjects of this study consisted of 72 seventh grade students…

Teaching and learning science through the use of familiar contexts has been advocated for several decades. Many take the use of context in science lessons to mean the use of resource materials that involve common scenarios or themes, or activities. This paper reviews a lesson identified by a teacher as a lesson taught in context. The data…

This paper reports the findings of a preliminary evaluation of an in-service training programme designed for practising geology/earth science teachers in Portuguese high schools and intended to enhance the effectiveness of fieldwork activities organised by them for their students. Among the points particularly stressed during the in-service…

This article presents some of the results of the questionnaire-based Relevance of Science Education Project (ROSE) carried out in England in the latter half of 2003 as part of a wider international comparative study based at the University of Oslo. Data, drawn from 1277 students, most of whom were 14 or 15 years old, indicate their views about…