Science content area texts are difficult for most middle school students, particularly whose reading skills are below grade level. This article describes an innovative approach to integrating the teaching of middle school science content and reading skills to increase levels of student success with content area textbooks. For reading instruction,…

Examined the effectiveness of concept mapping on the science achievement of African American middle grades science students distributed into eight different classes by ability level. Results of this quasi, non-randomized, control-treatment group, pretest-posttest study found no significant overall effects of treatment on science achievement. There…

Teaching science in middle school is both rewarding and demanding. Creating an exciting learning environment with a rich science curriculum that engages all students is challenging enough. Monitoring the progress of as many as 150 individual students and knowing that they understand the science concepts we are teaching can be overwhelming. How can…

In this conceptual article, the authors describe an alternative course structure that joins learning key marketing concepts to creative problem solving. The authors describe an approach using a convergent-divergent-convergent (CDC) process: key concepts are first derived from case material to be organized in a marketing matrix, which is then used…

The DNA triplet code also functions as a binary code. Because double-ring compounds cannot bind to double-ring compounds in the DNA code, the sequence of bases classified simply as purines or pyrimidines can encode for smaller groups of possible amino acids. This is an intuitive approach to teaching the DNA code. (Contains 6 figures.)

In recent years, e-learning system has become more and more popular and many adaptive learning environments have been proposed to offer learners customized courses in accordance with their aptitudes and learning results. For achieving the adaptive learning, a predefined concept map of a course is often used to provide adaptive learning guidance…

As Universal Pre-K efforts sweep the nation, so does the development of state standards that define the skills and the knowledge that young children should be developing. The goal of these standards is to ensure the school readiness of all students. While the goals mentioned in this article are taken from the New Jersey Department of Education's…

Discusses how concept maps with two dimensional diagrams which show hierarchical relationships among concepts of a discipline can be used in teaching physics. An example for teaching a course in electromagnetism at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil is presented. (HM)

Concept mapping, which requires learners to plot concepts and their interrelationships in a meaningful organizational network, was compared with an established curriculum approach. The usefulness of the technique is discussed in terms of its ability to individualize and raise the quality of learning. (JD)

Presents techniques to help preservice and beginning teachers evaluate their own teaching, including concept maps and critical listening, analysis of videotapes and case studies, and cooperative teams and postobservation analyses. (MKR)

Low-achieving seventh-grade students were assigned to two science intervention groups, a read-and-discuss teacher-directed method group and a group in which a model of concept mapping that connected major and minor concepts followed the lesson. Results indicate that using graphic representations was more effective than the traditional approach.…

This paper reports on a paper and pencil concept-sorting strategy that enables trainee teachers to restructure their knowledge in any one domain of science. It is used as a self-study tool, mainly to enable them to break down and understand the progression of concepts beyond the level at which they have to teach. The strategy involves listing key…

Introductory tertiary level science classes (i.e., at the university or post-compulsory school level) including those for biology face increasing diversity in intake. Previous research has indicated university level teachers assume a certain level of prior knowledge which may or may not be possessed by such students. This report focuses on the use…

Most professors realize that students receive and process information in different ways. Some professors are even capable of identifying how most students learn. If students' learning styles are compatible with the teaching style of their instructors, they tend to retain more information, effectively apply it, and have a better attitude toward the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of conceptual change texts accompanied with concept mapping instruction, compared to traditional instruction (TI), on 8th grade students' understanding of solution concepts and their attitudes toward science as a school subject. Solution Concept Test was developed as a result of examination…