Today, more than at any other time in human history, biologists are or should be concerned about the morality of biological research and newly developed technologies. Two questions confront any scientist or science student concerned about morality and the life sciences. Is there some theoretical framework that might be used to assist in deciding…

In 1988, the Office for Undergraduate Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Education (USEME) convened a series of disciplinary workshops designed to obtain a better understanding of the conditions and trends in undergraduate education in the United States in seven critical areas: Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Geosciences,…

The analysis of data from the baseline cycle of the National Science Foundation instrumentation survey has two principal objectives, namely, to construct and examine a variety of quantitative statistical indicators describing major characteristics of the current national stock of academic research equipment and to document differences among…

In 1982 the Dade County Public Schools (Florida) began developing test item banks for secondary subject areas, because other testing programs have limited utility for assessing the quality of curriculum, instruction, or learning in specific content areas. In May l984, the approximately 17,000 seventh graders enrolled in Life Science and the…

The Connecticut Assessment of Educational Progress is a continuing program designed to measure objectively the adequacy and efficacy of the educational programs offered by the public schools. In 1979-80, students in grades 4, 8, and 11 were tested in science. Three goals were selected: (1) know the fundamental facts and principles of science; (2)…

Examines the effectiveness of two writing-to-learn formats in helping developmental students master biological information and in decreasing writing anxiety. Objective measures showed a small but significant decrease in writing anxiety over the quarter, unrelated to writing format. Writing format also had little effect on content knowledge, based…

Science interfacing packages (also known as microcomputer-based laboratories or probeware) generally consist of a set of programs on disks, a user's manual, and hardware which includes one or more sensory devices. Together with a microcomputer they combine to make a powerful data acquisition and analysis tool. Packages are available for accurately…

Describes the use of an interactive multimedia computer program in the study of cardiovascular physiology. Scores on tests given immediately after completion of a two-hour animation program on the Cardiac Cycle and Introduction to Electrocardiography were significantly higher than pretest scores. Students who used the computer program achieved…

This report summarizes activities related to the development, field testing, evaluation, and marketing of the "Scientists at Work" program which combines computer assisted instruction with database tools to aid cognitively impaired middle and early high school children in learning and applying thinking skills to science. The brief report…

In 1986, an academic program review of the biological sciences programs of the universities in the State University of Florida System was performed by a team of 13 consultants. This report of that review includes: (1) the background of the review; (2) a statement of the status of biological science instruction; (3) a review of the 1978 assessment…

Teams-Games-Tournament (TGT) is an instructional mode consisting of three components: 1) teams, involving assignment of students in a classroom to a series of four/five-member teams; 2) games, consisting of a series of instructional or learning games, and 3) tournament, consisting of weekly game-playing sessions in which each student competes with…

Information pertaining to biotechnology research that was funded in whole or in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is presented in this report. Findings obtained from state agricultural experimental stations and colleges of veterinary medicine are discussed in 11 appendices. These include: (1) information on USDA's biotechnology…

It is feasible for school districts to develop and use subject area tests as reliable as those previously available only from commercial publishers. Three projects in local item development in a large school district are described. The first involved only Algebra 1. The second involved life science and career education at the elementary level; and…

The Connecticut Assessment of Educational Progress (CAEP) is modeled after the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and has been in operation since 1971. This report is the culmination of a multi-year effort by the Connecticut State Department of Education to make its CAEP program even more useful to classroom teachers and other…

The performance of graduate and undergraduate school applicants on the Test of Written English (TWE) was compared for each of 66 data sets, dating from 1988 to 1993. The analyses compared the average TWE score for graduates and undergraduates after matching examinees on the total score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The main…