The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA), located in Aurora Illinois, is a public, three-year residential high school for students who are academically talented in mathematics and/or science. The mission statement of IMSA is to "ignite and nurture creative, ethical, scientific minds that advance the human condition." This…

Although undergraduates have long held a role as teaching assistants for introductory science courses at liberal arts colleges and universities, educational institutions often do not provide these students with opportunities to explore science teaching and pedagogy. At Brandeis University, we designed an internship course to help increase the…

This monograph is the first attempt to collect and share some of the teaching techniques, activities, and ideas of former recipients of the Outstanding Biology Teacher Award. The lessons are organized into topical themes to facilitate their incorporation into standard curriculum. The manual is divided into two main sections, "Labs" and "Ideas."…

Do you have an idea for a new activity or laboratory exercise that you would like to incorporate into your course but feel unsure as to how it will be received by your students? This was our concern when developing first-year biology labs for a biology majors' course at University of Windsor. Through a Centred on Learning Innovation Fund (CLIF)…

Funded by innovative programs at the National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Richmond faculty in biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and computer science teamed up to offer first- and second-year students the opportunity to contribute to vibrant, interdisciplinary research projects. The result was…

THIS PICTURE BOOK WAS DEVELOPED FOR USE WITH THE ELEMENTARY SCIENCE STUDY UNIT ON "BONES." THE UNIT PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP MANY CONCEPTS ABOUT THE SKELETAL SYSTEM. NUMEROUS PHOTOGRAPHS ARE PROVIDED OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FIVE VERTEBRATE CLASSES AND SELECTED INVERTEBRATES. BOTH EXTANT AND EXTINCT MEMBERS ARE REPRESENTED.…

This issue of the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) newsletter is mainly devoted to reports of the international adaptation of the BSCS materials. The BSCS director provides an overview of the international cooperation program, and a member from most of the adaptation teams contributes a short report on the progress of adaptations in his…

Describes the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) program from the point of view of its possible contribution to environmental education for elementary school children. Ecological examples are used in the description. (AL)

The final part of a five-part series reporting the results of the evaluation of the trial version of the Nuffield A-level Biology Project presents data from a follow-up study of students one year after they completed the trials. Student perception of the objectives of the course is reported, and employer or supervisor comments on strengths and…

Reports the results of evaluation of specified student and course objectives by teacher ratings and test results. Includes a discussion of the evaluation of the materials as a result of formative evaluation. (AL)

Teachers who accept" the BSCS rationale are generally more humanistic in their pupil control ideology than those who reject" the program. Acceptors" scored higher on personality scales determining the capacity for independent thought and action. (AL)

The content, instructional methods, and exams, as well as justification for the adoption of the science program, are presented. (CP)

Health science students like students in many disciplines exhibit difficulty with transferring content from one course to another. For example, the problem explored in this study occurred when overlapping concepts were presented in introductory biology and chemistry courses, but students could not transfer the concepts to the other disciplinary…

Studied were selected aspects of the learning process related to biological concepts and the processes leading to their acquisition. Data were obtained using a series of structured interviews based on jury-graded check lists. The population consisted of 36 randomly-selected students from three randomly-selected classes using Green Version BSCS…

Most of the activities suggested in this trial version of the Genetics unit produced by the Australian Science Education Project rely on second-hand data, although one of the introductory activities suggested is based on results of a mouse breeding experiment. The unit is, therefore, expected to be suitable only for students who are capable of…