Discussed are two contrasting views about the nature of scientific thinking including Pearson's and Collingwood's. The contexts of questions, methods, problems, experiments, and history are described as contexts of inquiry. The physical thoughts of scientists from pre-Aristotelian times to the present are outlined in relation to contexts of…

Discusses the concept of quality, relates quality to four themes of the evolving science curriculum, and examines implications for science teacher education. The four curriculum development themes focus on problem-solving skills, the cultural heritage, a conceptual framework of the realm of science, and moral/ethical issues resulting from…

Discusses the responses of science graduates (N=34) to control of variable problems. Two content areas (biological/plants and physical/pendulum) and two formats (experimental planning and data interpretation) were employed in their study. Results suggest that different problems elicit a variety of solution procedures and are affected by prior…

Discusses the establishment and implications of programs and workshops developed in response to Florida's State Comprehension Plan for Mathematics, Science, and Computer Education. Emphases are on efforts geared toward expanding support for precollege science teaching. (ZWH)

Explains the effects of examination fear and anxiety on student performance. Cites ways instructors can intervene to help alleviate the problem and better promote learning. (RT)

Provides details of a science teacher inservice model centered around the methodology of problem solving and ownership of outcomes associated with an issue or problem. Describes perceptions of the program by staff and participants. (Author/MKR)

Explains the Every Teacher a Researcher (ETR) program and invites teachers to participate in classroom research on students' problem-solving abilities. Reviews previous approaches taken to investigations of problem solving in science. Identifies characteristics of successful and unsuccessful problem solvers. (ML)

Proposes that students learn and do chemistry based on their own beliefs. Expresses concern that the educational system supports and rewards the learning of facts over the learning of concepts and general skills. Offers suggestions for instructional improvement. (TW)

Provides several reasons for the lack of the classroom teacher's involvement in science education research. Explains the purposes, advantages, involvements, and kinds of research. States that without teachers as researchers, there is an inability to put knowledge to practice. (RT)

Reviews research on the purpose and effectiveness of laboratory activities. Discusses epistemology, problem solving, cooperative learning, student involvement, assessment, and teachers as researchers. (YP)

Reports on specific problem-solving difficulties of 240 chemistry teachers from 5 Nigerian states who volunteered to take part in 3 written tests and an interview. Describes the contrasts between successful and unsuccessful problem solvers, and discusses the pedagogical and psychological implications of the findings. (16 references) (JJK)

Described are the use of two different tests designed to test for selected inquiry skills. Procedures, tests used, and results in several different countries are presented. Implications for classroom instruction are discussed. (CW)

In response to a survey questionnaire, 278 elementary school teachers and secondary school mathematics, science, and social studies teachers in Texas expressed opinions that the teaching of problem solving is important and that it can be taught successfully. While most of the teachers reported that teaching of problem solving was not encouraged in…

Critical pedagogy, an ideology which opposes education as domination, views knowledge and learning as constructed by the student and teacher together. Its goal is personal and social emancipation and empowerment. The purposes of this paper are to (1) indicate problems in science education which can be addressed by teaching science from a critical,…

The objective of this study was to investigate how classroom questioning and discussion skills, designed to increase scientific literacy and problem solving performance, affects student achievement in biology and chemistry. The two independent variables for this study were the effects of wait time and supportive intervention. The dependent…