This is number five in a series of resource manuals consisting of 11 sequenced curriculum guides developed by the Demonstration and Research Center for Early Education (DARCEE) for use in early childhood education programs. Emphasis is placed on the development of sensory, abstracting and mediating, and response skills. The projected order of the…

This is number nine in a series of resource manuals consisting of 11 sequenced curriculum guides developed by the Demonstration and Research Center for Early Education (DARCEE) for use in early childhood education programs. Emphasis is placed on the development of sensory, abstracting and mediating, and response skills. The projected order of the…

Provides summaries of 1981 science education research. Categories include cognitive style; Piagetian studies; student characteristics and learning; teaching strategies and learning; teaching use of instructional materials and learning; instructional technology; evaluation (instrumentation and methodology); curriculum research; teacher education;…

Both teachers believe that the most important student outcome is factual knowledge, middle-grade students learn through repeated drill and practice, and these students require a great deal of direction. Their beliefs differ from the philosophy of an intended curriculum, thus hampering its successful implementation. (PR)

Presents a series of science teaching ideas with the following titles: When Demonstrations Are Misleading, Lasers and Refraction, An Improved Stair-Step Model, Correcting Your Compass, Seeing Is Not Believing, Food Coloring: From the Kitchen to the Lab, Punny Business, Portfolios in Science, Feathers or Gold: A Case for Using the Metric System,…

A formative assessment pretest was administered to undergraduate students at the beginning of a science course in order to find out their prior knowledge, misconceptions and learning difficulties on the topic of the human respiratory system and energy issues. Those findings could provide their instructors with the valuable information required in…

This document details a teaching program for use in training in-service and pre-service teachers. It offers a cross-curricular approach to the handling of global environmental issues in classrooms by nonspecialist teachers and students. The purpose of the units is to provide an information base for the development of teaching and learning…

Two topics that are important for improving the teaching of science in the elementary grades are: (1) the availability of classroom science materials and equpment; and (2) teacher improvement in subject matter competencies, instructional skills, and familiarity with technology. A workshop was developed to help teachers develop instructional…

Ten examples of innovative and outstanding middle school/junior high science programs are described. These programs were selected using state criteria and at least four independent reviewers. While Project Synthesis offered a desired state, these examples of excellence provided views of what is already a reality. The goals of an exemplary science…

A survey was conducted to determine the needs of elementary teachers with respect to the teaching of science. Areas addressed in the survey included: biological, physical, and earth science topics taught at various grade levels; criteria used to select sequencing and content of the science curriculum; most common methods of instruction used in the…

Evaluates the effectiveness of a course using a constructivist approach in reducing Dutch secondary school students (n=190) misconceptions about force. Concluded that the lessons were effective in changing students' ideas in regard to forces in rest situations and frictional forces and that learning effects were equally distributed over student…

In this investigation we employed a case study approach with qualitative and quantitative data sources to examine and discover the characteristics of the processes used by a midwestern U.S. school system to adopt and implement a new K-6 science curriculum. Analysis of data yielded several results. Elementary teachers received what they requested,…

In this essay, the author describes her experience with an experiential model of learning through teaching that gives college students the opportunity to use what they learn in the college classroom to develop curricula and then teach those curricula in an elementary school. Her specific experience was with a science course for non-science majors,…

The Science Meta-Analysis Project (SMAP) resulted in the meta-analysis of a sizable proportion of the research in pre-college science education. Seven broad questions were examined during the study. These include the effects of different curriculum programs, effects of different instructional systems used in science teaching, effects of various…

Eight examples of innovative and outstanding energy education programs are described. These programs were selected using state criteria and at least four independent reviewers. While Project Synthesis offered a desired state, these examples of excellence provided views of what is already a reality. The goals of an exemplary science program are…