Presents concept mapping as an effective tool for developing an integrated curriculum. Includes examples of concept maps that represent an entire veterinary curriculum, specific courses, and case-based exercises. (21 references) (Author/JRH)

Presented are the results of a survey of elementary school principals designed to determine whether problem solving and critical thinking skills are an integral part of the science curriculum in elementary schools. Curriculum orientation, amount of problem solving, and problem-solving/higher-order thinking priorities are discussed. (CW)

Implications for science curricula and instructions of new perspectives on scientific knowledge, on nature of evidence, and on how knowledge changes are considered. Argues that much of science education is mired in positivist assumptions and suggests ways in which science instruction can promote a more appropriate epistemological attitude and…

Described is an undergraduate biology course which uses exercises for teaching critical thinking. A line-of-reasoning model is presented. Evidence for the effectiveness of this approach is presented. (CW)

The Systems Thinking and Curriculum Innovation (STACI) Project is a multi-year research effort intended to examine the cognitive demands and consequences of learning from a systems thinking approach to instruction and from using simulation-modeling software. The purpose of the study is to test the potentials and effects of integrating the systems…

Examined are boys' and girls' achievement from a developmental perspective over the three years of science curricula. Results show the overachievement of girls relative to boys in both chemistry and physics in grades 10 through 12. Discusses implications of the results. (YP)

The purpose of this study was to identify factors responsible for the perceived decline in attitudes toward science observed in an intervention study designed to enhance scientific literacy. The literacy study focuses on a new freshman course in an urban Catholic high school. Negative attitudes toward science were found to be related to the demand…

This paper examines the effect of using a systems thinking approach in existing secondary school curricula to teach content-specific knowledge as well as general problem solving skills, and the effect of using STELLA (Structural Thinking Experimental Learning Laboratory with Animation), a simulation-modeling software program, as a tool by which to…

Reports on a study intended to determine the science education research interests of elementary teachers and to examine the data according to certain demographic variables. Results indicate that hands-on experience, science content, cognitive development and learning styles, problem solving, and teaching strategies were the top five research…

Thirty-four authors have joined to produce this book. Among them are natural and physical scientists, psychologists, historians, writers, scholars of curriculum and instruction, teacher educators, and teachers of the young. The contributors probe many methodologies including the place of unified concepts and processes; the interaction of the…

Abstracts and abstractors' critiques of 10 published research reports related to curriculum, instruction, problem solving and teacher education are presented. Aspects addressed in the studies include: (1) verbal aptitude and the use of study questions; (2) the treatment of evolution in biology textbooks; (3) descriptions of characteristics of…

Abstracts of most of the papers presented at the 58th annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) have been collected in this publication. These papers related to such areas as: science curriculum development, design, and implementation; science test development; factors influencing student science…

This paper begins with a summary and analysis of Robert Glaser's arguments, presented in his paper "Education and Thinking: The Role of Knowledge," which contend there are strong interactions between structures of knowledge and cognitive processes, and that problem solving and reasoning are taught best in the context of the acquisition…

Abstracts and abstractors' critiques of nine published research reports related to problem solving, elementary school science, science process skills, and curriculum and instruction are presented. Aspects addressed in the studies include: (1) problem-solving skills of high school chemistry students; (2) spatial puzzles and the assessment of…

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…