This study was undertaken to examine prospective elementary teachers' learning about science inquiry within the context of an innovative life science course developed specifically to meet the unique needs of elementary education majors. As part of the course, prospective teachers not only engaged in an extended science investigation, but also…

Describes a study which analyzes the impact of three different humane education treatments, all examples of traditional programs taught by local humane societies to fifth- and sixth-grade students. Results are compared with similar studies previously conducted. (CS)

From June 1980 onwards most home candidates taking University of London Advanced-level Biology are required to submit their practical and field work notebooks to their teachers for assessment. This paper describes a trial run assessment of the practical books of 700 candidates, conducted in June 1979, and the statistical moderation procedure…

An increasing number of Bioscience courses embed entrepreneurship learning outcomes within the curriculum, across a number of modules and/or within a dedicated module. The level 2, Developing People and Products module is one such example, involving students in 100 study effort hours over 7 weeks. This module was delivered to students (n = 37)…

This study explored and documented Taiwanese students' alternative conceptions of animal classification. We examined the understanding of the "animal", "vertebrate" and "invertebrate", "fish", "amphibian", "reptile", "bird", and "mammal" concepts among elementary,…

Undergraduate students routinely rated science-related courses such as biopsychology as intimidating and very difficult. Identification of factors that may contribute to success in these types of courses is important in order to help increase performance and interest in these topics. To examine what variables are related to performance, we studied…

This investigation explores how underrepresented urban students made sense of their first experience with high school science. The study sought to identify how students' assimilation into the science classroom reflected their interpretation of science itself in relation to their academic identities. The primary objectives were to examine students'…

Conventional wisdom is that some topics in introductory psychology are more difficult for students than others. Such wisdom seems reasonable given mismatches between students' and instructors' expectations and variations in both instructor expertise and student motivation across topical areas. Five instructors pooled students' exam performance…

Previous research of classroom teaching and learning revealed that students have critical misconceptions about how plants get their food and that these misconceptions remain unchanged despite instruction using activities in the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIIS) unit on producers. Because the experimental sequence described in SCIIS is…

Lack of attentional control--inability to concentrate--has often made the difference between successful and unsuccessful performance on the part of athletes. Attention is controlled neurologically by a very complex interaction of a large portion of the cerebrum and is not localized to any one structure. The mechanism involves a memory retrieval…

This paper presents an overview of the biological sciences, the number of women involved, and the opportunities available to them. Some of the women who attained prominence in biological sciences since the early days of women's college education are presented. Data and figure captions are presented to show the gains of women in biological…

Presents the results of a survey to identify and categorize the major difficulties perceived by teachers in their teaching of ecology. Difficulties included teacher training, syllabus difficulties, and teacher approach. Suggests how these difficulties might be overcome. (CW)

Describes three experiments that examined how children (4- to 11-year-olds) use their knowledge of the attributes of living things to infer whether particular objects are alive. (HOD)

This paper begins with a review of previous research into children's classification schema, specifically with regard to the concept of vertebrate/invertebrate, before citing the details of more recent findings with primary aged children. This research explores the concept of vertebrate/invertebrate and how ideas progress across primary and…

Summarizes the results of a nutrition questionnaire administered to students in grades eight, nine, and 10 (N=490). Results suggest a need for nutrition education, particularly concerning the relationships between diet and health. (DS)