Despite the increasing demand for non-formal science learning activities, few studies report on practitioners' perspectives and experiences with designing and implementing such activities worldwide. This paper focuses on their challenges by drawing upon twenty-two interviews with practitioners involved in diverse science learning activities in…

In building a program to advance school leadership in science, a mechanism for prioritizing science education at a school was developed for schools and then carried out by school staff. The development process (including focus groups and interviews) and literature review yielded a difference in thought between teachers and administrators about…

The University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez (UPRM) has found that there are disadvantages to a semester long remedial mathematics course that is administered during the freshmen year to students with mathematics deficiencies in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs. Correspondingly, the UPRM designed and implemented an…

Previous research has linked inquiry-based science instruction (i.e., science instruction that engages students in doing science rather than just learning about science) with greater gains in student learning than text-book based methods (Vanosdall, Klentschy, Hedges & Weisbaum, 2007; Banilower, 2007; Ferguson 2009; Bredderman, 1983;…

A primary instructional objective of most early science programs is to foster children's scientific curiosity and question-asking skills (Jirout & Klahr, 2011). However, little is known about the relationship between curiosity, question-asking behavior, and general inquiry skills. While curiosity and question asking are invariably mentioned in…

The Texas statewide assessment of academic skills in 1997 indicated that >55 % of the student population failed to master the mathematics objectives set by the test criteria and 42 % of the mathematics teachers at the secondary level in the East Texas region were categorized as underqualified to teach mathematics at that level. The issue of…

This study presents a description and analysis of a ninth-grade integrated science curriculum developed and implemented by teachers within a high school science department and subsequently sustained for over 25 years. The Integrated Science Program (ISP) at Lakeside Southwest High School depicted here offers a unique example of longitudinal…

The goal of this article is to present a description of a professional development program designed to immerse middle and high school teachers in an inquiry-based learning environment using a forensic science context and the consequent impact participating in this program had on teachers' pedagogy. Teachers participated in a year-long program…

A change of science program to help graduate as well as undergraduate students to choose multidisciplinary careers in 21st century is discussed. This would help serve better not only to students but the entire profession of chemical science as well as the scientific proficiency of the entire country.

Introduces the project "Rekindling Traditions" which illustrates one modest way of addressing the underrepresentation of Aboriginal people in careers related to science, a situation that arises from a colonial type of science education. Integrates Western science content into a local community's Aboriginal Science. (Contains 85 references.)…

Surveys of curriculum changes of (n=163) colleges and universities offering 4-year undergraduate programs in geology found that 77% revised their major geology programs in the previous 3 years and 74% reported that the greatest incentive for change was concern about pedagogy. Includes survey. (MKR)

This paper presents the findings from an evaluation of SUCCEED (Southwestern University and College Coalition for Engineering Education), a National Science Foundation (NSF) coalition. The presentation is made in several stages: (1) a review of the background and goals of the NSF coalitions, SUCCEED in particular; (2) a discussion of the methods…

The Education Act of 1989 brought into existence the New Zealand National Qualifications Authority (NZQA), of which the first major task was to develop a national qualifications framework (NQF; New Zealand Government, 1989). The NQF was initially envisaged as a unified framework into which all secondary, vocational, and tertiary qualifications…

This study was designed to identify: (1) status of science teaching and science teachers' and principals' attitudes toward change in science curricula and school practices during the 1979/80 school year in 100 public secondary schools (grades 7-12) that participated in a previous study in 1970/71, and (2) changes that have occurred in science…

The Iowa-Scope, Sequence, and Coordination (SS&C) Program assists schools with reform of their entire middle school programs, grades 6-8, and features the science, technology, and society (STS) instructional approach. This reform translates to the creation of new frameworks for the school program and aims to produce "constructivist"…