Reports on a study to elicit junior secondary students' understandings of the nature of science (NOS) through peer collaboration instruction based on science stories specifically developed to present several aspects of NOS. Investigates how students reacted to the stories and whether they were able to extract the aspects of NOS presented in the…

Describes a collaborative professional development program, Inquiry-Based Field Studies Involving Teacher-Scientist Collaboration, that uses scientist-teacher teams to improve teachers' understanding of scientific inquiry. Reports that the project allowed teachers to develop a deeper understanding on the nature of science. (Author/YDS)

Uses ideas about nature held by four high school science teachers to illustrate how any abstract notion of a scientific worldview does not adequately describe the perspectives of scientifically knowledgeable individuals such as competent secondary school science teachers. Effective science education helps students develop an understanding of…

Explores the relationships among teachers' beliefs about teaching science, learning science, and the nature of science. Investigates (n=37) Taiwanese science teachers' views on teaching, learning, and science and categorizes them into three groups--traditional, process, or constructivist. Identifies closely aligned beliefs as "nested…

Investigates the role of dissent in a community of university scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and social scientists engaged in a two-year professional development project on issues of equity and diversity. Focuses on professional development sessions devoted to a contentious yet integral topic in science education, the gendered and…

Science and technology are closely related yet one is an integral part of school science curricula and the other is not. Suggests that science teachers can introduce the role and importance of technology in science programs. (NB)

Describes several ways to partially levitate permanent magnets. Computes field line geometries and oscillation frequencies. Provides several diagrams illustrating the mechanism of the oscillation. (YP)

Shows how the thermal power developed by friction is exactly half the supplied power in the general case of a variable force of friction. Investigates the mechanism whereby one-half the input energy is dissipated as heat using mathematical expressions. (YP)

Describes three physics demonstrations: "Sticky Kinematics," dealing with motion in friction; "The Whistler," presenting a whistle-like sound of descending pitch from an iron spring; and "Magnetic Superconducter Mystery," generating a question why a magnet keeps spinning. (YP)

Reports on a 30-year-old longitudinal study of reactions in gels. Described are reactions and crystal growth in silica gels and diffusion studies of the Liesegang ring formation. Color photographs showing the reactions and graphs upon the diffusions are presented. (YP)

This paper presents a critical analysis of Wolfensberger's formulation of normalization as both a valid human service ideology and also a "research-anchored" scientific theory. It finds that the core statement of the model is tautologous, and thus cannot be considered a scientific statement. The empirical status of two major auxiliary…

The National Science Education Standards in the United States advocate liberal, contextual, and cultural goals for science education including the significant historical and cultural aspects of science; however, scant treatment is given to the pendulum. Suggests a more routine incorporation of the history and philosophy of science into preservice…

Argues that, contrary to the common view, Galileo and the theologians of the Inquisition share the same fundamental principles of biblical interpretation. Contends that Galileo and these theologians thought that the Bible contained truths about nature, but Galileo denied what the theologians accepted as scientifically true. Contains 93 references.…

Examines the perceptions of male and female scientists (n=18) concerning their experiences in achieving and maintaining a career within the scientific community and their views on the nature of science. Finds that women perceived many more barriers to careers in science than did men. Contains 27 references. (Author/WRM)

Argues that science as practice embodies the ideal of human intellect understanding the order underlying Nature. Maintains that science should be the disinterested, objective, and cooperative search for the truth, whereas personal prejudice, vanity, and ambition take second place. Proposes that discussion of the purpose of, and ethics in, science…