Advocates the Ausubelian approach to preschool education, as it combines traditional child-centered and teacher-centered preschool settings, and influences of Bruner and Piaget. Focuses on the use of the advance organizer lesson to assist students in making basic concept connections. Notes positive effects on student stimulation, interaction, and…

Discussed is the teaching method called the learning cycle and how it can be incorporated into science activities. Included are examples of how teachers and students can use the learning cycle to produce instructional materials. (KR)

Contends that what is being proposed as thoughtful or authentic teaching in the social studies, particularly in geography and history, is similar to the "New Social Studies" movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Discusses the origins, development, and decline of the new social studies, using one program, Project Africa, as a model. (CFR)

The Teachers Academy for Mathematics and Science, conceived by Leon Ledermann, is a program to infuse inservice K-8 teachers with enthusiasm to teach mathematics and science. Instructional methods utilized are based on discovery learning. Describes implementation of the program in Chicago and efforts to spread the program into other urban areas.…

Presents examples of questions and answers arising from a hands-on and exploratory approach to discrete mathematics using cuisenaire rods. Combinatorial questions about trains formed of cuisenaire rods provide the setting for discovering numerical patterns by experimentation and organizing the results using induction and successive differences.…

Offers calculus students and teachers the opportunity to motivate and discover the first Fundamental Theorem of Calculus (FTC) in an experimental, experiential, inductive, intuitive, vernacular-based manner. Starting from the observation that a distance traveled at a constant speed corresponds to the area inside a rectangle, the FTC is discovered,…

Discusses "connectionism," an alternative learning model wherein meaning resides in the function of the whole state of a network, rather than being localizable in certain symbols or areas. Topics discussed include integration with other learning models; the culture of the mathematics classroom; and characteristics of alternative…

Describes the Microworld Chance, a simulation-oriented computer environment that allows students to explore probability concepts in five subenvironments: coins, dice, spinners, thumbtacks, and marbles. Results of a teaching experiment to examine the effectiveness of the microworld in changing students' misconceptions about probability are…

Describes Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) laboratory methods and procedures developed to increase conceptual understanding in introductory physics laboratories. Gives an example of a typical beginning SDI lab manual section and a representative Socratic dialogue. Describes several examples of laboratory experiments developed for the SDI method.…

Through a review of the literature, looks at instructional and curricular issues related to the student-as-scientist model and the critical nature of the teacher's role in expanding school science activities to include this model. (SM)

Explores the interrelationship between a conception of science teaching and the nature of a knowledge base for science teachers, outlining a history of curricular efforts in medical education. The article proposes a generative conception of science teaching and develops the role of three associated knowledge bases. (SM)

Examines changes in elementary science teachers' education, noting the fragmented status of school science. Few elementary teachers have strong academic backgrounds in science or fundamental knowledge of elementary science program content. Understanding preservice teachers' alternative conceptions and misconceptions about the nature of science is…

Students experience the distinction between observable fact and scientific theory by taking a critical look at how spaghetti can be sucked up into the mouth. A demonstration shows that air is needed to suck up the spaghetti but that the scientific explanation is not as simple. (MDH)

Defines inquiry, a student-centered discovery process, and introduces Pathways to Knowledge(TM), an information process model that provides stages and strategies for anyone interested in gathering, using, and evaluating information. Describes the six stages of Pathways: Appreciation, Presearch; Search; Interpretation; Communication; and…

A videotape series produced by the Annenberg/CPB Math and Science Collection demonstrates college and secondary students' misconceptions about everyday phenomena and advocates teaching for understanding. Third International Science and Mathematic Study data show American and German teachers' interest in procedures and algorithms, compared with…