Focuses on the understanding of British children (N=189) of geologic time as they participate in related activities. Indicates that 10- and 11-year-old children lack a clear chronology of geologic events. Contains 22 references. (DDR)

In recent years, science educators have struggled with the dual challenge of equity and excellence, of providing all students access to a quality science education, and ensuring each student achieves an understanding of scientific concepts and processes. The Program for Complex Instruction, a model of group work, addresses this dual challenge by…

Word association techniques were used to examine the growth of biological knowledge over a period of years, from fourth-grade to college students. Results were analyzed by classifying stimulus-response word pairs according to the nature of the relationship between the words in each pair. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) the proportion of enactive…

Alternative classifications commonly used by children aged 12, 14, and 15 are presented. Why children use such alternatives is discussed. Age- and gender-related trends in performance on classification tasks is examined. Children's attitudes to classification and their perceptions of its usefulness in school and everyday contexts are reviewed. (KR)

One direction that science education reform has taken is an investigation into the content knowledge structure, instructional beliefs, and teaching practices of middle school, high school, and college science teachers. This research study follows that same path to determine whether systematic differences exist between academic levels on these…

The effects of a visual advance organizer on a biology concept learning task among fifth graders (n=48) was investigated. After exposure to the advance organizer, three levels of learning outcomes-knowledge, comprehension, and application-were evaluated. Findings of the study are discussed in terms of the assimilation theory, aptitude-treatment…

Examines the effects of group gender composition and the use of nonverbal computer mediated communication on performance and motivation following a biology lesson which used a computer image of a human face. Subjects were boys and girls ages 10 to 15. Findings indicate that anxiety had opposite effects for boys and girls when the computer-animated…

This study used a 2-by-4 factorial design crossing the amount of information about snakes with the level of involvement students had with live specimens to evaluate the effects of an intensive environmental education experience on the attitudes of fifth- through eighth-grade students (n=502) toward wildlife. (Contains 24 references.) (MDH)

Fifth and eighth grade students in New York City participated in a citywide science survey for the fourth consecutive year in 1987. These surveys were designed to assess overall achievement in the pre-high school grades and to provide school, district and citywide summary information about student performance in basic areas of the science…

A semantic differential scale was used to detect racial prejudice before and after teaching a course developed to convey the concept "human" as consisting of many races. The course improved attitudes toward Blacks and Chinese, but little change was noted in the German children's attitudes toward Germans. (CP)

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of a middle school inservice course emphasizing science process skills on the development of integrated process skills and on logical thinking. Twenty-two middle-school science teachers from the Detroit Public Schools participated in this project. A "Resourcebook of Science Process…