Propositions expressed by students during interviews prior to and after audiovisual instruction served as the basis for Concept Propositional Analysis (CPA) to assess cognitive structure. CPAs for two students are reported and aspects of Ausubelian principles are discussed. The method showed that new learning can be linked to previous…

Interviews conducted with a group of Lebanese children showed that they give physical rather than animistic interpretations to natural phenomena such as rain, clouds, and falling bodies. (MLH)

Provides educators involved with preservice and inservice training programs with a description of some resources available for sensitizing science teachers to the special needs of handicapped students. Most references have been developed by science teachers who have had direct experiences with these children. (JN)

Related are data concerning principal factors and trends affecting science education in the 1980s, especially in the use of television, other media, and science museums, and in the use of informal, nonschool settings. (CS)

Reviews selected research studies on testing in science education to demonstrate that, although many tests do exist in science education, there are areas needing further development. (CS)

Discussed is Bertha Morris Parker's contribution to elementary school science curriculum in terms of her development of science curriculum, her insights and ideas about elementary school science, and elementary school books she wrote. (DS)

Determines the effectiveness of three small-group teaching methods on the acquisition and retention of seriation abilities, investigates transfer of seriation abilities relative to the treatments, and investigates the relationship between visual and nonvisual seriation abilities involving first graders (N=120). (CS)

This essay is the first of a series of papers about historically important innovators in elementary school science. It presents a brief survey of Wilbur Samuel Jackman's life and describes his ideas about elementary school science and how he put them into practice. (HM)

Presents a comparison of Thai and American fifth and eighth

Examines the reading level and potential comprehension level of 10 fourth-grade science textbooks. Reports that there is a great deal of variability between and within the science texts. (YP)

Reported is one part of a comprehensive research project studying the effects of two contrasting teaching strategies (teacher-structured learning in science vs. student-structured learning in science) on certain aspects of the behavior of students in grades 1-5 and grades 10-11. Focus was on the role of the teacher in an activity-centered…

The major objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the perceptual preferences of elementary school children and their performance on pictorial model-based tests of selected science concepts. Perceptual preferences for size and shape did not significantly influence performance. Preference for color did appear to be…

Gives examples and advantages of various levels of teacher participation in science curriculum development, especially emphasizing Nuffield curricula. (MLH)

Investigates the effectiveness of unit seven of the MINNEMAST program in kindergarten classrooms using a pretest-posttest design. Concludes that this unit, as well as other units of MINNEMAST, would be an applicable science program in kindergarten classrooms. (HM)

Describes a study which sought to identify development patterns related to the acquisition of proportional reasoning in two areas, namely electricity and chemical solutions. Results from children ages 9-11 indicated that development of understanding of chemical solutions was asymmetric whereas it was symmetrical with electricity. Includes sample…