Early science learning has the potential to enhance children's social interaction development, but a lack of resources in schools requires well-structured activities and a supportive learning environment. In a project aimed at helping children develop an interest in science education from an early age, this describes a Project-Based,…

In this paper, we introduce a conceptual framework for researching the dynamics of imagination in science classroom interactions. While educational interest in imagination has recently increased, prior research has not adequately accounted for how imagination is realized in and through classroom interactions, nor has it created a framework for its…

This article describes learner and tutor reports of a learning network that formed during the completion of investigative projects on a residential field course. Staff and students recorded project-related interactions, who they were with and how long they lasted over four phases during the field course. An enquiry based learning format challenged…

This report, part of the 1972-73 Unified Science and Mathematics for Elementary Schools (USMES) evaluation project, focuses on the effect of the USMES curriculum on the organization and operation of the classroom. For the study, 30 USMES classrooms and 30 non-USMES classrooms were used. Each trained classroom observer, utilizing classroom…

This paper describes the simultaneous effects, including interactions, of two controlled instructional management variables and two student aptitudes on student achievement using a class-means model. Management variables were time allocated for learning with two levels of 45 and 50 class periods, and source of direction with three levels of…

Results of 11 studies of classroom practices used with activity-based elementary science programs were combined quantitatively using a composite category system. One finding reported is that teachers trained in program use spent less time talking and more on activities than untrained teachers using the programs. (Author/JM)

Reported is an instrument, the Science Student Observation Instrument (SSOI), designed for use in activity-centered science classes in desegregated urban junior high schools. Use of the instrument will enable the observer to compare classroom behaviors of black and white students, to determine the extent of interracial interactions, and to…