Describes four models: The Authoring Cycle, a whole language approach that reflects the inquiry process; I-Search, an approach to research that uses the power of student interests; Cultural Celebration, using local heritage topics; and Science Lab Report, for the composition of a lab report. (LRW)

Describes a research and development project aiming to help develop secondary students' abilities to understand biotechnology/genetic engineering. Focuses on an exemplary true-to-life experiment, planned and executed by students in grade 8, that involves external experts and uses an industrial research laboratory for solving genuine questions.…

Describes a project involving the development, application, and evaluation of a virtual chemistry laboratory (VCL) that involves basic step-by-step laboratory procedures and simulates real laboratory activities. Presents the program in terms of tutorial, VCL, and evaluation, and a section that allows instructors to create their own tests. (KHR)

Discusses how engineers will be educated in the twenty-first century, including workstation, teaching methods, teaching materials, and the college system. Describes some of the obstacles, such as small numbers of applicants, aging professors, poor preparation at high school level, and costs. (YP)

Describes how student learning from a series of laboratory practicals was improved using small group methods and a structured learning cycle that encouraged reflection on group performance and investigative techniques. Discussion includes evaluation of learning benefits by means of written records, a questionnaire, observation, and the role of…

Investigated the relationships among gender, prior academic performance, beliefs, and student attitudes toward biology laboratory experiences of (n=294) 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. Gender, prior academic experience, and beliefs were significant predictors of attitudes. (24 references) (Author/MKR)

Surveys of (n=179) department chairs showed 47% of secondary science teachers did not use microcomputers during instruction, but 76% indicated microcomputers have had an impact on science laboratory activities in their school. Most frequent applications were simulations, graphing packages, and probes for collecting laboratory data. (17 references)…

Authors discuss how computer laboratory interfacing has revolutionized their nonscience-major introductory chemistry course. Discusses the advantages of doing away with the "cookbook" approach to laboratory experimentation. Presents an evaluation of the course approach including the finding that over 75 percent of the students felt that…

Reassess the influence of the Commission on Undergraduate Education in the Biological Sciences (CUEBS) upon current undergraduate biology instruction, 20 years after making its findings public. Emphasizes the importance for the new generation of biology educators to reattempt the achievement of CUEBS goals despite past failures. (24 references)…

Discussion of mathematical modeling, particularly for high school physics curricula, focuses on software that is connected with laboratory work and the inference of mathematical models based on measurements of physical quantities. Fitting procedures are described, and user interface is explained. (Contains nine references.) (LRW)

This article describes a program providing a school district's most able high school students with advanced laboratory experience through access to facilities in an area university. Subjects studied include electronics, nutrition, and microbiology. Professors working with the students are interviewed and other experts comment on this approach. (PB)

Describes the use of an inexpensive device consisting of a plastic soda bottle and a modified plastic cap in a range of demonstrations and experimental activities having to do with the behavior of gases. (Author/WRM)

Presents an active-learning technique in which students design their studies that was found to be successful in an animal behavior laboratory course. Divides the laboratory course into three components: (1) structured and technique-oriented exercises; (2) open-ended and student-designed investigations; and (3) independent projects. Explains…

Analyses the ways in which university-entrant science students carry out and communicate experimental activities, and identifies a model to explain characteristic communication practices. Observes the investigative strategies of participant students who have a lack of experience with laboratory work and scientific writing. Uses laboratory reports…

Considers the extent to which educational computer programs can affect educational results and what their usefulness is in the process of learning physics. Presents experimental research concerning the dependence of the level of students' cognitive activity in learning physics with computer programs, particularly learning by doing in the…