The purpose of the study was to investigate secondary students' understanding of the descriptive and predictive nature of teaching models used in representing compounds in introductory organic chemistry. Of interest were the relationships between teaching models, scientific models, and students' mental models and expressed models. The results from…

Addresses the fact that a very small number of programs in science education were identified as outstanding in the field by the National Science Teachers Association. (NKA)

Presents suggestions intended to help physicists who have not had the benefit of teacher training workshops and programs, including, among others, those on lecturing, conducting laboratories and discussion sessions, preparing tests, and dealing with difficult subject matter. (SK)

Discusses student difficulties in problem solving. Presents a structured approach to one-dimensional constant acceleration problems. Provides researcher's experience including an example problem, advantages of the approach, and student responses with two illustrations of problem solving. (YP)

Applies a theory of analogical thinking as satisfaction of multiple constraints to the use of analogies in instruction. It shows how the strengths of particularly good analogies and the weaknesses of particularly bad ones can be understood in terms of pragmatic, semantic, and structural constraints. The constraints suggest lessons for how…

Even though much has been written about cooperative learning in recent years, busy high school teachers contending with heavy curricular and teaching demands might not know much about the instructional method. Equipped with only a partial understanding of cooperative learning, some teachers may view it as a series of forced artificial constructs…

This study investigated elements of pedagogical knowledge when students' higher order thinking was an explicit and focused instructional goal. The findings suggest a model that consists of 6 elements. It seems that, for all these elements, the source of differences between teachers' various pedagogies may be tracked to the basic distinction…

In order to enhance teachers' professional awareness, it is necessary to understand and value their subjective or personal knowledge and beliefs. This study investigated the change of science teachers' personal knowledge about teaching models and modeling in science within the context of educational reform in The Netherlands. The study followed…

To examine the influences of direct instructional principles on student learning, this study compared the results of using two different versions of an instructional television program. One version consisted of a randomly-selected ITV science program from the Educational Broadcasting Corporation's science series, "Odyssey," while the…

Discussed are the nature of the development of conceptual relationships, and the structure of concepts. The topics are presented with regard to the importance of combining metaphors with two alternate approaches to learning, the first being rote learning and the other being inductive learning. The paper is intended to be a model of the concept of…

Included are results of a study conducted to assess the possibilities and effectiveness of learning physics at high school level via independent study. The sample was drawn from a regular high school physics class. During the experiment, no instruction was carried out by any teacher. An auto-instructional system was developed and provided for use…

Presents the personal philosophy and classroom teaching ideas of a first and second year secondary level chemistry instructor. (SL)

Contains instructions and two patterns for making a terrestrial globe and a tectonic globe. The pattern is designed to be glued onto a tennis ball. By constructing the globes, students obtain a greater understanding of the locations of the edges of continents and the earth's plates. (AIM)

This article proposes incorporating principles of universal design into elementary school science programming. Advantages include increasing access to the general education curriculum, enhancing student progress in science, and framing the general education curriculum to make it more appropriate for students with disabilities. Of five models of…

Describes a teaching model aimed at promoting conceptual change concerning heat and temperature. The model is used with teachers (n=2) and students (n=92) to explore its use as a professional development tool as well as a teaching strategy. Results indicate that the teaching model is effective in changing students' ideas and the approach resulted…