How might exemplary practice be represented by teachers' narratives? How might such representations be analyzed? How might theory and practice be related? "Analyzing Exemplary Science Teaching" is a text that seeks to combine educational theory and practice through analysis of a series of teachers' descriptions of "exemplary"…

This document represents the content of science education in California and includes the essential skills and knowledge students will need to be scientifically literate citizens in the 21st century. The standards include grade-level specific content for kindergarten through grade 8. A significant feature is the focus on earth science in the 6th…

This resource book presents 37 behavioral experiments that can be performed with commonly-found classroom animals including hamsters, gerbils, mice, goldfish, guppies, anolis lizards, kittens, and puppies. Each experiment explores the five steps of the scientific method: (1) Question; (2) Hypothesis; (3) Methods; (4) Result; and (5) Conclusion.…

Recently, the nature of science has enjoyed renewed attention in science education circles as a primary component of scientific literacy. This paper describes an investigation meant to assess the influence of a person's understanding of the nature of science on his or her decision-making regarding science- and technology-based issues, and to…

This paper describes the development, administration, and results of an instrument to assess changes in students' science abilities as they progress from ninth grade through twelfth grade. Standard science tests commonly in use in schools to measure high school science students' achievement are content specific. Although these tests are useful…

How do you get a fourth-grader excited about history? How do you even begin to persuade high school students that mathematical functions are relevant to their everyday lives? In this volume, practical questions that confront every classroom teacher are addressed using the latest exciting research on cognition, teaching, and learning. How Students…

Argues that gaming-simulation is an appropriate vehicle for conveying research knowledge to policymakers. The appropriateness of scientific inquiry as a means for dealing with problems of a systemic nature is discussed, and questions concerning the conveyance of research knowledge in a useful format are addressed. Thirty references are cited.…

Five types of models are discussed as they relate to their function in the sciences and science teaching. These include scale, analogue, mathematical, theoretical, and archetypal models. (SA)

Presents a model for teaching the principles of evolution. The model presents three major factors that direct changes and affect an individual's fitness. Uses and adaptations of the model are suggested. (Author/SA)

Before implementation of competency based teacher education, its shortcomings should be examined from the viewpoints of the source of the competencies, their effect on students and faculty, and their effect on school administration and student guidance. (MB)

Reports evaluative data on five courses that have taken part in a curriculum reform effort called the Arizona Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers (ACEPT). Discusses the effects of those teaching reforms on substantial improvements in student achievement. Includes principles of effective teaching, reformed teaching…

This article comments on the previous article (Holburn, 2002), that argues misapplied approaches of person-centered planning can be remedied through scientific practices. It cautions against testing person-centered planning like a drug to establish its causal power and stresses person-centered planning as a way to improve the odds that change will…

Demonstrated in this article are some of the capabilities of a spreadsheet program using data obtained in gas law experiments and a computer interface system. The ability to organize and analyze data which a computer can provide for the student is emphasized. (KR)

Describes an experiment to determine the density of air within a 10 percent error range using a basketball and a triple beam balance. Provides the typical data and a graph. (YP)

The movement toward quantitative, "scientific" planning in organizations ignores an element essential to progress: communication within and among disciplines to explore available options. For this reason and because of the growth of technology, it will be important for higher education to expand into the field of communications. (MSE)