Presents views on the Australian version of American biological science materials developed as a part of the science course improvement project movement. The article serves as an introduction to the collection of papers, contained in this journal issue, from a seminar on biology and its place in school education. (PB)

Investigates cumulative effects of SCIS in terms of students' attitudes. Hypothesized and supported is that students exposed to the complete SCIS program would show a greater degree of positive attitude toward science, experimenting, and the scientist than would those not exposed to SCIS. Results indicating sex differences in attitudes are…

Describes the origin of "The Web of Life," as an Australian adaptation of the BSCS materials. Reviews various aspects of the influence of these materials on Australian secondary school biology since 1964. (CS)

Reports results of a survey designed to compare the extent that BSCS biology was being used in Kansas secondary schools in 1977-78 to its utilization in 1967-68. (CS)

Discusses a survey of a sample of Australian secondary schools that assesses the use of the Australian Science Education Project (ASEP) materials and its contribution to general education objectives. (MLH)

The Science Committee of the Ontario Curriculum Institute has been engaged in building an integrated curriculum in science learning for the upper levels of the public elementary school system. (MB)

Describes problems and successes in adapting Science Curriculum Improvement (SCIS) materials for use in the National College of Schweifat, located near Beirut, Lebanon. (CS)

Presents a system for formally characterizing elements of an introductory science class, measuring class performance based on this characterization, and modeling the value of the class based on the measurements. The main components of this modeling system include educational engineering with a formal set of practices, the use of computational…

Internet extends the reach of existing laboratory and training infrastructure to beyond the walls of such facilities. Though nothing can replace the hands-on experience in a laboratory; a carefully developed web-based digital lab may be the next best thing. In some cases, there may be benefits associated with a "distance laboratory" that…

The teaching of human anatomy has had to respond to significant changes in medical curricula, and it behooves anatomists to devise alternative strategies to effectively facilitate learning of the discipline by medical students in an integrated, applied, relevant, and contextual framework. In many medical schools, the lack of cadaver dissection as…

"Real" science is about formulating and trying to solve practical and conceptual problems on the basis of shared beliefs about the world. Scientists build theories and test hypotheses by observation and experiment. They try their best to eliminate personal bias, and are "extremely canny in their acceptance of the claims of others" (Ziman, 2000).…