Describes the results of a study of the current level of evolution instruction in public schools in Louisiana. Finds a significant and positive correlation between emphasis placed on evolution instruction and teachers' knowledge-base. Also finds no pressure on biology teachers to regard evolutionary theory as a unifying theme in biology, and…

Describes the background and outcome of the McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education case heard in federal court in the early 1980s. The decision repealed a legislative act which called for "equal time" in science classrooms for presenting evolution and creationism. The decision also established that "creation science" had no scientific merit or…

Discusses Emirates preservice (n=31) and in-service (n=224) teachers' views about the nature of science. Finds that Emirates teachers' views are mixed where traditional views of science are attributed to history and the educational system, and constructivist views are attributed to religious beliefs. Argues that the traditional view of science…

Discusses ways for teachers to help science students understand what makes a good description of a problem in a scientific investigation. (WRM)

Reviews and assesses the effectiveness of the attempts undertaken to improve prospective and practicing science teachers' conceptions of the nature of science (NOS). Categorizes reviews as implicit or explicit. Indicates that the explicit approach was more effective in enhancing teachers' views. Assumes that developing an understanding of NOS is…

Seeks to justify the inclusion of meteorology within the science curriculum. Reflects upon the nature of science and some current issues in science education, and examines the reality of including meteorology within worldwide science curricula. Contains 37 references. (Author/DDR)

Explains the goals of a course to teach non-science majors how scientists think. Approaches science primarily as a way of knowing rather than as a body of knowledge and conveys the scientific method as an empirical endeavor. (DDR)

A discussion of the increased use of qualitative methods in social science research looks at four emerging issues: the nature of research, the growth in status of the narrative in research, political influences on the research process, and the nature of the relationship between the philosophy of science and applied research practice. Some…

Proposes a socioconstructivist environmental education. Explains that the challenge of environmental education is to enable students to gain a more complex representation of the sciences. Contains 35 references. (DDR)

Reflects on the idea of a person being constructed through his actions, and the role of the teacher in enabling such actions. Argues that the way a teacher shapes the classroom is, in effect, a lens through which children can be viewed and visions of the educational process both shape and are shaped by the teacher. (Author/WRM)

Explores an approach to autobiographical research based on a notion of "outlaw genre" autobiography, referred to as "biomythography". Describes the use of photo essays to learn about prospective elementary teachers' stories of science and science education. Calls for an examination of hegemonies extending from students' personal histories as…

Investigates the practices required for reading graphs in high school textbooks and scientific journals. Discusses the role of high school textbooks in the appropriation of authentic scientific graph-related practices. Finds that scientific journals provide more resources to facilitate graph reading and feature more elaborate descriptions and…

Criticizes introductory biology texts for merely describing living things in terms of what they can do as whole organisms and neglecting to consider the nature of life on a micro-scale. Presents possibilities for including such discussions in an introductory biology course. Contains 14 references. (WRM)

Describes a study of students' (n=106) written questions about topics they considered extremely interesting and not very interesting. Finds that there were significant positive relationships for questions written for high and low interest levels, and also significant positive relationships between question level and achievement in reading,…

Describes a review of research that addresses the effectiveness of simulations in promoting scientific discovery learning and the problems that learners may encounter when using discovery learning. (WRM)