Examines the effects of changes in college admission requirements on the prior knowledge and skills base of entry-level university students in the United Kingdom. Discusses the impact of the introduction of General National Vocational Qualifications for college admission as an acceptable alternative to the traditional A-level entry qualification.…

Addresses multiculturalism in science education reform: (1) problems with the universalist account of the nature of science; (2) an examination of some historical cases that illuminate the consequences of maintaining a universalist perspective on science; and (3) an argument for a multicultural perspective on scientific knowledge. Argues that the…

Presents a sample exercise developed for use in a student-driven classroom as part of a first-year, one-semester course, "Mechanisms of Biology." The approach places each student in an active role as questioner and as an intrinsic part of the course structure itself. The exercise is given on the first day of the course as a primer. (LZ)

Discusses different meanings of integration of mathematics and science (discipline specific, content specific, process, methodological, and thematic) and instructional implications of these approaches. (12 references) (Author/MKR)

Describes a computer-based prelaboratory lecture to replace traditional lecture. Discusses how the CUPLE method was developed, the course structure, and a typical course day. (MVL)

Presents a concept-map scheme that provides a consistent syntax and grading system for using concept maps as assessment tools. The grading scheme awards points for demonstrating hierarchies, relationships, branching, and cross links. Examples showing the use of the key are presented. (PR)

Describes mistakes made in trying to change the Nutrition and Digestion section of a medical biochemistry course. Author tried to make the section student taught and reports nine mistakes including the following: ignoring active opposition of colleagues, failure to assess the receptivity of the class to a new form of teaching, and overestimating…

Reports a follow-up survey of 1,565 high school physics students in Oregon to determine whether and why they had taken physics in college. Results indicated that roughly half of the 590 students responding went on to study physics and that students from schools offering multiple physics courses had higher rates of continuation. (MDH)

As optometry expands its science curriculum, teaching methods must be examined. Instructional modalities must fit teaching needs, facilitate and improve student learning capacity, and be efficient; the student must participate as much as possible; and faculty must be aware of what colleagues are teaching and be receptive to new methods. (MSE)

Describes the impact of North Carolina's testing program in chemistry on curriculum and instruction from teachers' perspectives. A random sample of 100 teachers received a questionnaire yielding a usable sample of 48, of which 8 were interviewed. Results suggest testing is making the chemistry curriculum more uniform across the state. It is not…

Implications for science curricula and instructions of new perspectives on scientific knowledge, on nature of evidence, and on how knowledge changes are considered. Argues that much of science education is mired in positivist assumptions and suggests ways in which science instruction can promote a more appropriate epistemological attitude and…

Describes a community-college curriculum that incorporates Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) laboratories into a new calculus-based preengineering physics sequence. SDI allows for group discussion labs that emphasize the concepts being taught in the lectures. (ZWH)

Describes a middle school teacher's efforts to alter his teaching style from that of an objectivist to a constructivist approach. (ZWH)

Eighty-five second-year science education students participated in a study designed to compare the effectiveness of two different methods (inquiry vs. traditional) of teaching on the achievement and intellectual ability of students. Results favored the experimental (inquiry) group. (ZWH)

Analyzed the commonly used science textbooks (n=8) to determine their cognitive level of questions. Among the conclusions are that there was a greater proportion of lower-level questions than higher-level questions in these books. (PR)