Reports on a study designed to (a) determine the effects of visually-enhanced, hands-on student instruction as compared with non-visually enhanced hands-on instruction, and (b) test the feasibility of using simple concept map-like structures as a means of determining student conceptual growth in a non-language dependent manner. Concludes that the…

Clarifies the meaning of the Nature of Science (NOS) and scientific inquiry in the context of reform efforts in science education. Delineates several misconceptions promoted (or ignored) by reform efforts. Proposes that without explicit instructional attention to the NOS and scientific inquiry, students will once again learn science subject matter…

Adresses five themes basic to biology education: (1) increased recognition of advances in the science of learning; (2) implementation of scientific ideas and technological innovations; (3) incorporation of science- and technology-related issues; (4) elaboration of global perspectives; and (5) professional community and civil discourse. (MM)

Eight articles in this this theme issue explore aspects of supervised occupational experience (SOE) in agriculture: definitions, new directions, the value of SOE, experiential learning, the science of agriculture, production agriculture, hydroponic technology, and Future Farmers of America proficiency awards. (SK)

Explores the basic physical laws of the juggling activity. Derives some equations involving height, angle, time, and distance for common juggling objects. Describes the relationships among height, length, mass, number of clubs, number of spins, angular velocity, time, and angle in club juggling. (YP)

Describes a high school physics teaching sequence including more modern topics. The first quarter covers cosmology, astronomy, optics, wave mechanics, relativity, gravity, and quantum theory. The second quarter covers classical mechanics. The third quarter covers electromagnetism and electronics. The fourth quarter consists of thermodynamics and…

Discussed are two contrasting views about the nature of scientific thinking including Pearson's and Collingwood's. The contexts of questions, methods, problems, experiments, and history are described as contexts of inquiry. The physical thoughts of scientists from pre-Aristotelian times to the present are outlined in relation to contexts of…

Proposes a simple procedure based on an expansion of the exponential terms of Raoult's law by applying it to the case of the benzene-toluene mixture. The results with experimental values are presented as a table. (YP)

Described is the subject of biological scaling for physics teachers including examples and in-depth reading. Topics are elements of scaling, terminal velocities, Lilliputian and Brobdingnagian, brain evolution, dolphin echolocation, surface tension, gravity change, food and oxygen, and seeing. Ten references on physics and size, and ten questions…

Discusses the use of logarithm and reciprocal graphs in the college physics classroom. Provides examples, such as electrical conductivity, reliability function in the Weibull model, and the Clausius-Clapeyron equation for latent heat of vaporation. Shows graphs with weighting of points. (YP)

Questions whether materialist pragmatism is more coherent than alternative accounts of educational administration. The criteria provided by materialist pragmatists lack overall coherence; there is no way to choose between first- and second-order theories. Arguments against separation of factual and evaluative realms are unconvincing, and…

Contains three demonstrations to help students develop an adequate understanding of the nature of science. Two use the inquiry method to show students the importance of evidence in formulating explanations, and the third uses the history of science to show that science is tentative as well as based on evidence. (LZ)

Presents Principles of Biochemistry for use as main focus of a biochemistry course. The nine guiding ideas are the principles of continual turnover, macromolecular organization, molecular recognition, multiplicity of utilization, maximum efficiency, gradual change, interrelationship, transformational reciprocity, and information transfer. In use…

Various critiques of the 20 most important ideas of science as presented in the book "Science Matters: Achieving Scientific Literacy" are reported. A list of these ideas is provided. Different points of view on these ideas are discussed. (CW)

In their book entitled Scientific Knowledge, Barry Barnes, David Bloor, and John Henry repudiate the notion that physical environment plays no role in the creation of scientific knowledge, thereby removing a major bone of contention between scientists and practitioners of the sociology of scientific knowledge. A physicist discusses ways in which…