The aim of this study is to reveal secondary school students' misconceptions about simple electric circuits and to define whether specific misconceptions peculiar to Turkish students exist within those identified. Data were obtained with a conceptual understanding test for simple electric circuits and semi-structured interviews. Conceptual…

This inquiry uses teacher-candidate critiques of science lessons as a means of evaluating the effectiveness of an instructor's pedagogical approach to promote teacher candidate understanding of the nature of science (NOS) in a science methods course. Three cohorts of teacher candidates enrolled in a middle-years teacher education program were…

Previous research on the relationship between age and creativity has shown that career age, rather than chronological age, correlates best with longitudinal changes in creative productivity. Recently, Dietrich (2004) proposed a new theoretical framework that integrates cognitive neuroscience with the findings of creativity research. By identifying…

The principles, difficulties and challenges in control education are discussed and compared to the similar problems in the teaching of mathematics and systems science in general. The difficulties of today's students to appreciate the classical teaching of engineering disciplines, which are based on rigorous and scientifically sound grounds, are…

This article reports on the outcomes of a study that compared implicit and explicit teaching approaches on the development of contemporary conceptions of the nature of science (NoS). The sample comprised two groups of prospective primary teachers in the Republic of Ireland, all non-specialists in science. Research has shown that contemporary…

This book shows how physics relates to daily life. Chapters included are: (1) "Physics of Fun" (dealing with the concepts of friction, Bernoulli's principle, lift, buoyancy, adhesion, cohesion, surface tension, gas expansion, waves, light, mirror images, and solar cells); (2) "Physics of Nature" (illustrating the concepts of inertia, static…

A reaction kinetics experiment for the chemical engineering undergraduate laboratory course was developed in which in-situ Fourier Transfer Infrared spectroscopy was used to measure reactant and product concentrations. The kinetics of the hydrolysis of acetic anhydride was determined by experiments carried out in a batch reactor. The results…

The impact of science on society is examined in this publication's coverage of a series of public lectures that commemorated the 25th anniversary of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Edited versions of four speeches are presented which address the impact of science on society from the time of humanity's first significant…

The teaching of science in the K­-12 classroom has been less than successful. Students typically do not develop science literacy and do not understand the role and relevance of science in society. Inquiry­-based learning is an approach which promises to improve science teaching by engaging students in authentic investigations, thereby achieving a…

Intentional, conscious speech is composed of both scientific and artistic components and thus requires instruction from both perspectives. Teachers often employ nonvalidated propositions--derived from personal and vicarious experience, results of scientific investigations, or folk wisdom--to advise students on speech performance. Care must be…

An analysis of classroom discourse is reported in which the use of questions by science teachers is assessed in terms of arguments to establish knowledge claims. Questions are analyzed not for their form or frequency but for their function in the development of arguments which establish claims rationally. Seen in the context of rational argument,…

TO DETERMINE THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS FOR INSTRUCTION IN ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY, 51 TECHNICAL WORKERS, 51 JUNIOR COLLEGE INSTRUCTORS, AND 11 EXPERTS RATED 240 SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES AS TO THEIR VALUE IN A TECHNICIAN'S WORK. THE THREE GROUPS AGREED ON THE RANK ORDER OF 15 TOPICS--(1) CURRENT ELECTRICITY, (2)…

The changes which occurred in man's view of the solar system from the time of Ptolemy to that of Galileo are presented. Contained is a brief review of the chain of events which resulted in the acceptance of a heliocentric system. Ptolomy's theory is described and a diagram illustrates the paths of the epicycle of Mars according to his geocentric…