The purpose of this study was to determine the concerns of Texas science teachers about the 40 percent laboratory time rule just prior to enforcement and at the end of its first year of implementation. The methodology, results of the first and second years, conclusions, and implications for teaching science are discussed. (KR)

Investigated the problems chemistry majors have with learning distillation concepts in traditional chemistry laboratory courses. Reports that students take the generalized concepts at face value, construct decontextualized concepts for distillation, and cannot interpret their observations or make reasoned decisions based on the theoretical…

Reports on a project in which observations of student and teaching assistant behavior were used to redesign a teaching unit on recrystallization. Comments on the instruction manual, starting points for teaching the unit, and list of objectives with related tasks are included. (JN)

This study examined prospective elementary teachers' learning about scientific inquiry in the context of an innovative life science course. Research questions included: (1) What do prospective elementary teachers learn about scientific inquiry within the context of the course? and (2) In what ways do their experiences engaging in science…

Reported is a profile of nonmajor instruction determined through a nationwide survey of college and university professors who teach introductory courses to non-science majors. The purpose of the survey was to identify the critical issues and problems that exist related to this population of students. (KR)

Reports on the results of a survey of college level instructors of quantitative analysis courses. Discusses what topics are taught in such courses, how much weight is given to these topics, and which experiments are used in the laboratory. Poses some basic questions about the curriculum in quantitative analysis. (TW)

To cope with some social problems, Japanese educational planners are drafting some proposals for research into innovations in the educational system. This paper reports on some research recently done which looked into the relationships of the Japanese educational environment and the reasoning/thinking skills and process skills of students in…

This document contains 65 papers presented at the International Conference on Physics Education. Included are papers dealing with: (1) physics education in China; (2) the evaluation of physics courses in engineering colleges; (3) climate and weather; (4) the implications of physics education research for the classroom; (5) university physics…