Conducted a study (n=26) to test descriptions about learning associated with open-ended design projects and to clarify the notion of ownership of resources and practices. Reports that conceptual and material resources were shared among students and that tool-related practices were appropriated as newcomers participated with more competent others…

Results of this study indicate that students' (N=155) self-concepts and gender role perceptions were related to both achievement and attitudes toward science, but more related to attitudes than achievement. In addition, these relationships became more pronounced for students as they matured from seventh to eighth graders. (Author/JN)

This study reports the instructional effects of issue investigation and action training on the environmental behavior of middle school students. Discussed are the methodology including training and modules, the design of the study, instruments used, scoring protocols, and analysis of results. (Author/CW)

Investigated differences between middle school and junior high instructional strategies and the effects on adolescent attitude toward science in school and science achievement (n=570) and evaluated variations within grade level, gender, race, general ability, and socioeconomic group. Discusses results in terms of effectively implementing changes…

Reports on a study which investigated the effect of instructional objectives on seventh grade students' attitudes toward science. Results indicated that students in the integrated science program had better attitudes than those receiving traditional instruction. (TW)

Examined is the role of middle school science textbooks in dealing with sensitive social and scientific issues. Ten widely used textbooks are compared to determine the amount and depth of content presented on five major global issues, including nuclear weapons. Implications are discussed within the context of a television culture. (KR)

The context of socialization in the second half of the 20th century is far different than any previous socialization environment. Children in the United States and in other industrialized countries grow to adulthood in an age of science and technology. Despite these changes in the socialization environment, there has been little systematic study…

This study examined learning by individuals and groups in a computer environment. Individual interactivity as a function of group size was investigated by focusing on various modes of interaction available to students while they completed activities using a computer. The activities, which involved manipulation of pictures of batteries, bulbs, and…

Reports on student attitudes toward science-technology-society (STS) after visiting a science-technology museum and considers what variable factors of the visitation impacted these attitudes. Results indicated that significant differences in attitudes were present between visiting and nonvisiting students and between grade levels. (TW)

This study examined the characteristics of family environment and its relationship to attitudes toward science. Data were collected from over 800 seventh-grade and over 1,400 tenth-grade students during a longitudinal, multi-dimensional study of the relationship between the variables of home, school, and self as related to attitudes toward and…

Reports a study to examine secondary school students' (n=200) responses to two figurally and spatially similar problems from mathematics and science that require different responses before and after instruction. Results indicated that most students gave the same response to both questions. Reasons for this pattern are discussed. (MDH)

This study investigated the effects on the performance of different age group students of: (1) method of task presentation; (2) format of test questionnaire; and (3) the numerical content of the tasks. The sample consisted of 556 students from grades 7, 9 and 12. The tasks, used for assessing reasoning skills, were taken from the Video-Taped Group…

This year-long case study examines how a struggling reader in a sixth-grade social studies class, a seventh grade mathematics class, and an eighth grade science class "transacted" with the reading task demands of her specific classroom. Through regular classroom observations and interviews, the researcher documents how each student responded to…

This report examines the effects of both student and school characteristics on mathematics and science achievement levels in the third, seventh, and eleventh grades using data from the 1985-86 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Analyses feature hierarchical linear models (HLM), a regression-like statistical technique that…