Reports on a study of 110 students in advanced undergraduate psychology courses to assess their retrospective impressions about their introductory psychology course, current course selections and performance, and future academic plans. Finds that students who had participated in a science fair gave significantly higher ratings. (CFR)

The number of students in the science classroom who are learning English as a Second Language is increasing each day. This paper describes preliminary results of a California-based Teacher Enhancement project intended to increase elementary school teachers' science knowledge and ability to teach science to minority students and to promote the…

This practicum addressed the problem of decreased participation of fifth-grade students in the science fair. At this grade level, the science fair guidelines mandate that students enter a research-type project. For many fifth-grade students the desire to tackle this monumental task does not match their developing cognitive skills. The literature…

The aim of the Learning in Science Project is to: (1) investigate science teaching/learning at the Form 1 to 4 level (ages 10 to 14); (2) identify some of the key difficulties in this subject area; and (3) find ways of overcoming such difficulties. The project is seen both as an evaluative and a research project in that it is concerned with…

The first working paper of the Learning in Science Project, "An Initial Framework," outlined what was then seen as the major aims of the project and suggested how these aims might be achieved by three phases of research: exploratory (to observe teaching/learning in Form 1 to 4 science classrooms and to identify difficulties perceived by…

The Prime Minister's Committee on Natural Science in Education in Great Britain reported in 1918 that "...in many schools more time is spent in laboratory work than the results obtained can justify." Seventy years later this conclusion can often still be drawn. This is particularly a problem in open distance education where laboratory practicals,…

A study of 221 teachers in 50 exemplary science programs shows that teachers in these programs are unlike science teachers in general. This report offers a general profile of exemplary science teachers and summarizes data about their goals, expectations, strategies, and the results they obtain with students. (IW)

In 1987, the Cheshire Public Schools initiated a science curriculum review. Teachers, parents, and students recognized that the existing textbook-based elementary science program was a dismal portrayal of such a dynamic discipline. There was community consensus that reading about science and acquiring scientific vocabulary words were not the same…

A significant alternative to the traditional text-based approach to elementary science has been represented by the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS). Although the literature documents the process of the investigative approach, greater utilization of available programs and support from teachers are not evidenced. This investigation was…