The Prime Minister's Committee on Natural Science in Education in Great Britain reported in 1918 that "...in many schools more time is spent in laboratory work than the results obtained can justify." Seventy years later this conclusion can often still be drawn. This is particularly a problem in open distance education where laboratory practicals,…

Provided is a model to depict how the development of process skills can be systematically achieved and in turn determine the students' achievement in science practicals. Modified laboratory instruction is compared with conventional laboratory instruction. The results of field testing on 164 ninth grade subjects are described. (MVL)

A University of Toronto pharmaceutics course which organizes information about physical chemistry around real problems, presented as case studies or laboratory projects, is described. Problems were addressed in class discussions or by unsupervised eight-student groups using self- and group evaluation procedures. Results are discussed, and three…