Reviews seven computer applications for science assessment including conventional, multiple-choice, constructed-response, adaptive, figural response, simulation, and an emerging approach to performance assessment termed solution pathway analysis. Virtually all computer-based testing systems are found to improve the quality and efficiency of record…

Suggests that, based on a theory of situated learning, assessment must emphasize process as much as product. Several assessment examples are given, including a computer-based planning assistant for a mathematics and science video, suggestions for computer-based portfolio assessment, and speculations about embedded assessment of virtual situations.…

The extent to which students' home characteristics, school factors, teaching and learning variables account for the variance of a measure of students' (n=2059) attitude toward science was investigated. The results indicate that most students come from homes that may not foster positive attitudes toward science and that variables that could lead to…

The Biology Cognitive Preference Inventory (BCPI) for investigating the biology cognitive preference styles of 143 students in the biology teacher education program was developed and validated. The cognitive preferences include factual information or recall, principles, questioning, and applications. Preservice biology teachers exhibited a strong…

Summarizes four research projects (commissioned by the United Kingdom's Teacher Training Agency through their Teacher Research Grant scheme) which are of particular interest to science teachers. Issues addressed in the projects include self-esteem and science achievement, science teaching's effects on attitudes toward health and the environment,…

Discusses the strengths of the Third International Mathematics Study (TIMSS) and the TIMSS--Repeat (TIMSS-R) and considers the impact of this impressive achievement in international cooperation that will enhance the level of information about schooling in the United States and elsewhere. (SLD)

Examined parenting styles within families of high performing science students and explored gender differences in the factors associated with authoritative parenting style. Found that the authoritative parenting style was predominant among study participants and that a greater number of family-related variables emerge for females, whereas more…

Examined the effect of part-time work intensity on high school mathematics and science coursework completed and its indirect effect on 12th grade achievement. Longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample indicated that there was a significant negative effect of part-time work intensity on coursework. The indirect effect on 12th-grade…

South Carolina's technical assistance centers focus on improving low student mathematics and science performance. They provide assistance and professional development to teachers in poor, isolated rural schools. Curriculum Leadership Institutes (which renew and enhance teachers' content knowledge and pedagogy) are a primary part of the centers.…

New Zealand is investing in two international studies that assess the achievement of students in science--the International Mathematics and Science Study and the Programme for International Student Assessment. While the studies have very different purposes, they both provide extensive data on student achievement in science and about factors that…

Recent literature in science education suggests that, to transform girls' participation, learning, and identities within school science, we must think about ways to engage girls in different kinds of educational activities that promote broader meanings of science and scientist. This study was designed to examine more deeply this call for a changed…

Can cognitive research generate usable knowledge for elementary science instruction? Can issues raised by classroom practice drive the agenda of laboratory cognitive research? Answering yes to both questions, we advocate building a reciprocal interface between basic and applied research. We discuss five studies of the teaching, learning, and…

Using multivariate discriminant analysis and the data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 1999, this paper made 5 individual comparisons between the U.S. middle school system and 5 Asian middle school systems, which have typically been top ranked in mathematics and science achievement scores. The discriminant…

Students in college biology laboratory classes were grouped heterogeneously or homogeneously according to preferred cognitive learning style and were instructed using the cooperative learning method Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD). In the first year of a two-year study students were given training in a team study strategy. No…

This article takes Anderson's (1999) "code of the street" as the context for studying science learning in an inner city American public school. It is proposed that a socio-cultural model of mind can help to explain how students in an urban chemistry class negotiate contradictory cultural codes. This analysis includes a consideration of…