Analyzes a short excerpt from a high school physics class discussion to consider the value of the students' work as inquiry and to illustrate a teacher's negotiation of the tension between inquiry and traditional content-oriented concerns. (MDM)

Discussed is whether scientists should take responsibility for the social consequences of their discoveries. Reviewed is the role to which the "modern" playwright assigns scientists in modern society and what might realistically be a role that scientists and scientific societies should play in the modern world. (KR)

Twenty-two secondary students with learning disabilities were successfully taught the principles of scientific reasoning. Using student-teacher dialogs, students analyzed information presented in magazine articles and advertisements. Students improved their ability to identify the principal claim made in an article or advertisement, graph the…

Discusses the need for a revitalization of a scientific agenda for clinical supervision. Reviews philosophy of science and scientific methods and attempts to disentangle common misconceptions about a scientific agenda as applied to supervision. Exhorts supervisors to be critical consumers of research and theory and to pursue programmatic and…

Discusses the use of a historical profile for illustrating the significance of the mathematical components of scientific laws. Addresses the need for the purposive use of scientific laws rather than the blind substitutionary procedures characteristic of most problem solvers. Claims the approach has the potential for increasing female participation…

Argues that scientific literacy requires that students know how to apply scientific theories and that the skill of theory articulation has to be taught explicitly. Analysis of textbooks and tests indicates that this is not currently done. Offers Roger C. Schank's theory of explanation as a starting point to develop that skill. (Author/MDH)

Describes a physics demonstration in which two-liter plastic bottles can be used to show how force relates to pressure and area. Identical drinking straws are launched out of similar plastic bottles with different-sized openings. This demonstration proves qualitatively that pressure is inversely proportional to the area exposed to an object when a…

Describes an attempt to determine if there were gender or age differences in the images that 11- to 14-year-old students have of scientists. Results indicate that as female students get older they adopt and project a more stereotypic image of scientists, whereas male students seem to harbor a less stereotypic image of scientists as they age.…

Proposes four formulations of the commonplaces of science based on distinct views of the nature of science, and explores the consequences of each. Argues that although each formulation has strengths, some commonplaces prove more comprehensive than others in capturing the essence of science for the purposes of developing curriculum, educating…

Liberal theologians and some scientists subscribe to integrationist theories of science and religion. Late 20th-century developments in quantum mechanics, cosmology, chaos theory, and ecology have rendered nature more mysterious and open to religious interpretation than to deterministic approaches. Students should learn how science connects to…

Presents an action-research study of student scientific literacy that is analyzed by two metaphors of learning: students working in science as if they follow recipes, and students working in science as if they devise recipes. Considers the usefulness of the metaphors as a framework to provide common ground for otherwise divergent views on…

Reviews the chronometric research conducted by Arthur Jensen and what it has done to support the idea of a correlation between various composite reaction-time variables and IQ tests. Discusses the importance of Jensen's work in the exploration of general intelligence. (SLD)

In science teaching, Aristotelian physics is often presented in a fragmentary and oversimplified way which distorts the true meaning of Aristotelian concepts. Discusses some mistakes that originate from a partial reading of Aristotle's work. Contains 32 references. (Author/WRM)

A greater role for the history and philosophy of science in science education can only be realized if it is based on both a credible analytical approach--such as that of Lakatos--and if the evolution of a sufficient number of major themes in science is known in suitable detail. Considers chemical kinetics as an example topic. Contains 62…

Discusses excerpts from Jupit Scientific's publication, "The Bible According to Einstein: A Complement to the Holy Bible for the Third Millennium." (WRM)