Examines the instructional impact of National Science Resources Center's Science and Technology for Children curriculum in the Oshkosh Area School District. Results suggest that the adoption of this curriculum among experienced teachers in the district will provide little or no immediate gains on student achievement and potentially a slight…

Reports findings from a focus group study of the opinions of 70 teachers in six secondary schools in England and Wales about the future of the compulsory science curriculum. Reports widespread support in principle for the proposed changes with concerns expressed over content and feasibility of implementation. (Author/MM)

Explores the most appropriate form of activities to help children develop science concepts. Provides arguments and evidence from a pilot study that point to the significance of wonder for the invitation of children to the world of science. Argues that activities that do not appear to be pedagogically appropriate should not be excluded from…

Describes an education reform consisting of a science education curriculum of which environmental education has become an integral part to emphasize higher order thinking skills and connections to the world beyond the classroom. Discusses instruction, assessment, and organization of school sites with this reform. (ASK)

Introduces the Technology-Based Learning in School Science (tBLISS) project which investigates the feasibility of technology-based science curriculum implementation and examines the science process skills of students. Water is the major theme of the curriculum. (YDS)

Reports on the Partnership for Excellence in Teacher Education (PETE), an NSF-funded project to promote reform in mathematics and science teacher preparation that features the redesign of teacher preparation to reflect current research on learning and teaching. Concludes that new tools of technology have the potential for enhancing education but…

Although science, technology, and society (STS) has been widely accepted as part of science curriculum policy, there is little evidence that it has made much impact on classroom practice, particularly in the academic stream of secondary schools. Suggests that supporters of STS should consider placing STS in occupational contexts in ways that would…

Draws on a range of published case studies on settings in which individuals not professionally involved with science address issues that have a scientific aspect. Suggests that at least some areas of knowledge about science should be part of the compulsory school science curriculum. (Contains 61 references.) (ASK)

Supports the use of professional development in environmental education and proposes that it be regarded as vital to learning as classroom instruction. Discusses the use of activities from programs such as Project WET and Project WILD. (DDR)

Discusses the importance of environmental chemistry and the use of laboratory exercises in analytical and general chemistry courses. Notes the importance of lab work in heightening student interest in coursework including problem-based learning in undergraduate curricula, ready adaptability of environmental coursework to existing curricula, and…

Condemns the removal of evolution from subjects to be tested in Kansas at the state level. Outlines strategies being used by creationists to confound contemporary science, the breadth of creationist/fundamentalist attacks on modern science, and educators' and politicians' responses to creationist attacks. Reviews the role of museums in providing…

The authors' seventh-grade science curriculum includes a study of nutrition, anatomy, and physiology. Over several years, the authors' teaching partner and herself reworked the nine-week unit to include the Tour de France and the exploits of Lance Armstrong. What makes this unit so engaging for middle school students is that it provides an…

This paper argues that the diverse curriculum reform agendas associated with science education are strongly and critically associated with the educational characteristics of the humanities. The article begins with a survey of interpretations of the distinctive contribution which the humanities make to educational purposes. From this survey four…

This report describes a molecular biotechnology-based laboratory curriculum developed to accompany an undergraduate genetics course. During the course of a semester, students researched the pathogen, developed a research question, designed experiments, and performed transcriptional analysis of a set of genes that confer virulence to the food-borne…

A molecular approach for introducing entropy in undergraduate physical chemistry course and incorporating the features of Davies' treatment that meets the needs of the students but ignores the complexities of statistics and upgrades the qualitative, intuitive approach of Lambert for general chemistry to a semiquantitative treatment using Boltzmann…