Surveys reveal that many in our society have an inadequate and inaccurate understanding of evolution (Alters & Alters, 2001). Much of this can be traced directly to popular misconceptions about the nature of science. This, in turn, can be linked to misrepresentation by those opposed to evolution, although inadequate or ineffective treatment by ill…

Researchers have given limited attention to teacher attitudes toward inclusion of English-language learners (ELLs) in mainstream classrooms. The author explored 4 categories within secondary teacher attitudes toward ELL inclusion: (a) ELL inclusion, (b) coursework modification for ELLS, (c) professional development for working with ELLs, and (d)…

Active engagement in the classroom is one of the best tools available for overcoming conceptual difficulties. Science educators agree that students of all ages learn more by participating actively in the interpretation of scientific phenomena (NAS 2003; NSF 1998). In this article, the authors describe demonstrations in class using paper wads as an…

Based on a purposive sample of 15 second-year chemical engineering students, this study investigates students' conceptions of evaporation, condensation and vapour pressure. During individual interviews the students were questioned on three tasks that had been designed around these topics. Qualitative analysis of student responses showed a range of…

The authors investigated whether guidance and reflection would facilitate science learning in an interactive multimedia game. College students learned how to design plants to survive in different weather conditions. In Experiment 1, they learned with an agent that either guided them with corrective and explanatory feedback or corrective feedback…

A general theme of technology education posits that participation in technology studies will result in outcomes and benefits for the wider society. Such an expectation is reflected in the New Zealand Technology Curriculum document where the aim of technology education includes enabling students "to achieve technological literacy through the…

Distance education is being hailed as the next best thing to sliced bread. But is it really? Many problems exist with distance-delivered courses. Everything from course development and management to the student not being adequately prepared are problematic and result in high attrition rates in distance-delivered courses. Students initially…

Few studies have dealt with students' preconceptions of sounds. The current research employs Reiner "et al." (2000) substance schema to reveal new insights about students' difficulties in understanding this fundamental topic. It aims not only to detect whether the substance schema is present in middle school students' thinking, but also examines…

The traditional order in which science courses are taught in U.S. high schools is biology, chemistry, physics. The physics course usually is regarded as very difficult because it requires both high-level mathematical skills and high-level thinking skills; it is taught in the final year of high school to provide time for students to develop the…

Attitude measurement has had a somewhat chequered history since the possibility of achieving it successfully was demonstrated by Thurstone in 1929. It has been an important area in science education, particularly in the context of falling uptakes in the physical sciences in many countries, and there have been many attempts to measure learner…

Feedback is central to the development of effective learning, yet is comparatively underresearched. This article seeks to examine the notion of written feedback on assignments and argue that this feedback process is more complex than is sometimes acknowledged. The author illustrates the problematic nature of assignment feedback by drawing on a…

Meditation is now one of the most enduring, widespread, and researched of all psychotherapeutic methods. However, to date the meeting of the meditative disciplines and Western psychology has been marred by significant misunderstandings and by an assimilative integration in which much of the richness and uniqueness of meditation and its…

With such curriculum gaps, it is hardly surprising that middle school children's understanding of botany is limited and riddled with misconceptions. Knowing that plants supply the oxygen to sustain most life forms and provide the primary energy source of most food webs is a core idea of science. Investigating non-native species is one way to…

Assessment is an integral and vital part of teaching and learning, providing feedback on progress through the assessment period to both learners and teachers. However, if test items are flawed because of misconceptions held by the questions setter, then such test items are invalid as assessment tools. Moreover, such flawed items are also likely to…

Underpinning science education reform movements in the last 20 years--at all levels and within all disciplines--is an explicit shift in the goals of science teaching from students simply creating a knowledge base of scientific facts to students developing deeper understandings of major concepts within a scientific discipline. For example, what use…