How do students bridge everyday life views into physics understanding? We report from in-depth analysis of one group of four students, video-recorded over 135 min solving a context rich problem (CRP). Through transcripts of the group's conversations and from flow-charts made of the group talk we have categorised how students' experiences develop…

Analyzes the ways in which some beginning primary school teachers cope when faced with teaching science. Examines aspects of a group of beginning primary teachers' science teaching practices in order to better understand the basis of their practice. Finds that activities that work have a close relationship with science Pedagogical Content…

Reports on a study designed to reveal the contents of the conversations of two main age groups of primary children who visited three types of animal exhibits: (1) at a museum; (2) live animals at the zoo; and (3) animated dinosaurs and preserved animals. The results raise concerns about whether effective science teaching is occurring in these…

Investigated students' understanding of the concept of weightlessness and found it to be influenced by the confusion between the concepts of weight and gravitational force. The causal structure of students' knowledge presents a platform for interpreting students' alternative ideas about weight and related physical concepts, which could guide…

Describes the use of the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) in senior biology classes (n=489) and students' perceptions of their interpersonal relationships with their teachers in the classroom environment and its association with student outcomes. Reports that student attitude scores were higher in classrooms in which students perceived…

There is considerable evidence that use of anthropomorphism and animism in science teaching is a common practice in all grades of education. However, not much is known about teachers' own views on the real reasons why they have been using animistic and anthropomorphic formulations or on the issue of whether animism and anthropomorphism should or…

In this paper I describe and discuss the way that a book I had written on a five-year longitudinal study of school science teaching was received by the pupils and teachers it featured. By and large the pupils' reception was positive. However, one group of teachers was deeply hurt by the book. I trace this mainly to my failure to consider…

In Uganda, curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS has largely depended on public and private media messages about the disease. Media campaigns based on Uganda's cultural norms of communication are metaphorical, analogical and simile-like. The topic of HIV/AIDS has been introduced into the Senior Three (Grade 11) biology curriculum in Uganda. To what…

This paper reports on degrees of awareness and use of specific metacognitive strategies by 16 students in a final-year high school biology class in New Zealand. The aims of the intervention were to broaden students' thinking about bioethical issues associated with cancer and to enhance students' use of metacognition. Cues and prompts were used in…

Analyzes some experiences with peer review and suggests that the process should be reconceptualized as one that involves an attempt to understand what an author is trying to do and helping authors achieve their goals. (DDR)

Explores different curricular emphases in processes and content which reflect different goals and educational research traditions. Problem solving remains neglected in both areas. Draws on situated learning and social constructivist literature to provide insights into problem solving in technology education. Contains 54 references. (Author/PVD)

Applies the depth of cognitive processing construct to a social constructivist analysis of students' collaborative knowledge-building in science. Discusses the interplay of depth of sociocognitive processing with motivational, cognitive, and discursive elements of groups' interactions and the relationship between accuracy of ideas and depth of…

Investigates changes in students' understanding of various aspects of measurement before and after participating in two different introductory laboratory courses at two universities in South Africa. Considerable gains were made during instruction with both groups, though some important differences were identified between them. Neither group could…

Explores the nature and extent of perceived challenge in learning and teaching science. Teachers (n=7) and students (n=37) in 5 secondary schools were the subjects of this study. Findings suggest that many students are insufficiently challenged by the science they learn in school and many teachers are insufficiently challenged by the task of…

Contrasts naive beliefs about the nature of science with science as it appears from sociological and philosophical study, feminist critique, and insights from multicultural education. Pragmatic school science is situated within a framework that questions how we know and the recognition that even high-status knowledge can be challenged. (AIM)