A battery of tests was administered to three groups of high school students who studied the Israel Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) Adaptation Program for several years. Compared with non-BSCS students, the progress of the BSCS students in biological knowledge, inquiry skills, and understanding of science demonstrates the feasibility of…

Explores the use of free sort methodology to compare BSCS student and teacher understanding of the BSCS conceptual framework. Results support the idea that teachers who have better understanding of the BSCS conceptual framework, as shown by their sort patterns, may impart this understanding more effectively to students. (CS)

Achievement scores of Israeli high school students using Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) materials were shown to be significantly higher than those for students using another curriculum. (MLH)

Conclusions include that, between Intermediate Science Curriculum Study (ISCS) courses and non-ISCS courses, there is no difference between the students' perception of both classroom activities and teacher personality traits. (MLH)

Fifty-nine secondary school physics students were assigned to treatment groups: (1) Project Physics units, (2) Project Physics and verbal learning unit, and (3) a training program in scientific inquiry. Posttest results revealed that, on most aspects of a science inquiry test, treatments 2 and 3 had significantly greater effect on achievement than…

Reports on the administration of a biology cognitive preference test to 177 science-oriented high school students. Subjects were asked to rank responses or "extension statements" to items according to their preference. It was found that the high-ability students as a group had a very high preference for questioning and low preference for recall.…

Compares effects of the Human Sciences Program (BSCS) and conventional programs on attitudes of eighth-grade students. Variables include course, gender and school (including teacher). Evaluation of results from responses on a semantic differential questionnaire indicate very positive response to the Human Sciences Program. (CS)

Compares frequencies and styles of questioning strategies used in Modern Biology and Biological Science Curriculum Study--BSCS Green, BSCS Yellow and BSCS Blue secondary school biology textbooks. Findings revealed significant differences between textbooks in terms of number and type of questions used. (CP)

Utilizes a factorial design with the variables "use or non-use of Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) inquiry slides" and "BSCS biology or non-BSCS biology." Eighteen classes of high school biology students were used in the study. Among other findings, groups using BSCS slides were found to be overall superior on…

Science curriculum evaluation studies (1963-1978) were examined to assess impact of innovative curricula compared with traditional curricula on student learning outcomes. Results suggest students in secondary school science courses scored moderately better than students in traditional courses on innovative and neutral tests and negligibly lower on…

Reports a significant correlation between environmental knowledge and environmental attitude, and significant differences between BSCS (Biology Sciences Curriculum Study) and nonbiology students' ecology comprehension and environmental attitudes. (CP)

Four types of proportionality problems were administered to: (1) secondary school students who were enrolled in Project Physics, and (2) students not enrolled in physics. Both samples were randomly selected. Groups were not found to differ significantly in problem solving ability but both revealed that the ability to solve certain problems was…

A conceptual model, which provides insight into the individual concerns that teachers adopting a new program may express, was employed in a study of science teachers (N=139) adopting the Intermediate Science Curriculum Study (ISCS). Results from a 35-item instrument (Stages of Concern Questionnaire), demographic data, and recommendations are…

Analyzes five biology textbooks in 11 categories identified as current controversial issues and biosocial problems. Quantitative ratings for each category, based on total number of textbook pages, are presented for Darwinian evolution, disease states, drugs, environment, human genetics, human reproduction, man in nature, origin of life, population…

Represented are results from a national survey study of public school teaching in 1970-71. A hypothesized path model is given relating use of Science Course Improvement Projects (SCIP) and offering of environmental education programs to several independent variables deemed to be relevant in using SCIP in secondary schools. (CS)