This study was designed to assess the effect of a process oriented elementary science curriculum upon students' achievement. The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) Complete Battery with the social studies and science supplements was administered to sixth grade students completing one, two, or three years of the Science through Discovery program in…

The purpose of this study was to ascertain middle school student and science teacher perceptions of the science inquiry experiences fostered in their science classrooms and to develop a science inquiry profile based on survey information from students and teachers. Nine hundred seventeen middle school (grades 6-8) science students and their…

Student-centered classrooms are characterized by shared responsibility, curriculum adjustment to reduce the number of topics or to increase emphasis on a subset of topics, a high premium placed on student-generated questions and investigations, and collective validation of students' ideas as a central feature of the teaching and learning process.…

Research on student use of digital resources identifies the challenges associated with utilizing the World Wide Web (WWW) while involved in on-line inquiry activities in the science classroom. On-line materials alone do not suffice in providing the guidance students require to effectively ask questions, plan searches, and analyze the results of…

One of a series of papers describing a collaborative educational change effort involving the Jefferson County, Colorado Public Schools, and the Texas Research and Development Center, this paper describes the district-wide revision of a science curriculum, grades 3-6. Results are reported of the monitoring over three years of a representative…

This paper describes a framework for studying and evaluating learning environments which contextualize school science content within a larger real-world scientific endeavor, such as carrying on a space mission. A central feature of this framework is its incorporation of recent research on content-specific personal interest. This framework was…

One of a series of papers describing a collaborative educational change effort involving the Jefferson County, Colorado Public Schools, and the Texas Research and Development Center, this paper describes the design and implementation of a concerns-based staff development plan for the purpose of supporting the implementation of a revised science…

This study seeks to observe and record the impact of the Internet as an educational tool on fifth grade students' (N=95) attitudes towards and behavior while interacting with this technology. The students attend a rural elementary school that is part of a study to implement a community-based, technology-enhanced, integrated curriculum. Working in…

The Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching (FAST) is an interdisciplinary science program that began as a curriculum reform effort in the mid-1960s. This historical study provides insights into the FAST project and contributes to an understanding of the dynamics of survival of curricular and instructional innovations. Data collection methods…

This document reports on a science education reform program sponsored by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The program is an attempt to overhaul the reform efforts of the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, and participation in the project has been underway since 1994. Funds from the institute support teacher training in the use and…

This paper discusses a model of integrated instruction and assessment called SMART (Special Multimedia Arenas for Refining Thinking). SMART involves interactive use of the Internet and multimedia software. The Internet serves three important functions: it acts as a formative assessment tool by providing individualized feedback to students, creates…