The purpose of this research is to analyze and describe learning textbooks that include elements of science literacy, particularly in the Integrated Science-Physics Test Book for junior high school grade VIII. This study is part of a quantitative descriptive study analyzing the content of science literacy elements contained in textbooks. The…

Examines an eighth grade science class that integrated mathematics and science through the use of technology. Reports that integrating mathematics and science classes positively affected students' achievement in math. (Contains 20 references.) (Author/ASK)

Because education in the United States is largely determined at the state and local levels, there has been considerable interest in how the performance of students in individual states compares with each other, with the United States as a whole, and with other nations. The comparison of state performance with other states and with the nation as a…

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) surveyed teachers and school administrators and conducted an in-depth analysis of mathematics and science curricula as well as investigating traditional student assessment of eighth grade students in 40 countries. The differences in key aspects of the educational systems in those…

Two focusing hypotheses were evaluated. First, do adjunct questions, focusing on science concepts and inserted after computer-animated sequences, selectively alter students' attentional processing and thus produce differential learning effects? Second, to these questions still provide enough metacognitive scaffolding to produce differential…

Teaches genetics and inheritance using the characters from Sesame Street. Asks students to create a gene map of their favorite character and determine those genes passing to the next generation. Includes a genetics activity sheet and genetic information on the characters. (YDS)

A study involving 547 girls and 641 boys investigated gender-related differences in prior knowledge in physics before the start of initial physics instruction and influence of prior knowledge on future achievement in 8th-grade German physics courses. Girls achieved lower overall scores in the applied test of prior knowledge in physics. (CR)

Reported is a study undertaken to examine the influence of objective statement specificity on student learning resulting from the independent laboratory-based Physical Science Investigation Program. The study involved three teachers and 138 eighth-grade Regents students from six intact classes. Each teacher taught one section using specific…

Determined how 430 eighth-grade students perceived science teaching as a career. One area investigated was the relationship between student ratings of science teaching as a career and such variables as sex, race, age, educational aspirations, and mother's/father's education and job type. (JN)

In 1995, the state of Minnesota participated in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), oversampling students to permit comparison with the United States as a whole and with other participating nations. The data generated by the assessment and its subsequent analyses provide informative insights as well as suggest questions…

This activity guide, developed to provide hands-on environmental education activities geared to New River State Park in North Carolina, is targeted for grades 7 and 8 and meets curriculum objectives of the standard course of study established by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Three types of activities are included: pre-visit,…

This research explores the moment-by-moment understanding students exhibit in the learning of a non-physical science domain--the human circulatory system. The goal was to understand how students learn by capturing the nature of their initial mental models (naive conceptions), and by seeing how new information gets assimilated into their mental…

This paper presents a literature review related to the time spent teaching science and a study designed to test the hypothesis that student achievement in science is related to classroom hours devoted to science instruction. The study involved testing two groups of eighth grade earth science students (N=200) over instructional material presented…

Eighth-grade students read passages that described three dichomtomized attributes of eight North American minerals. Mnemonic instruction, given to one-third of the students, generally produced greater memory for the minerals' attributes. Implications of the findings are discussed with specific regard to remembering scientific taxonomies and their…

The purpose of this study was to compare in greater depth the qualitative differences between what previous researchers have called a deep versus surface approach to learning science. Six grade 8 students judged as typical using a deep or surface approach were videotaped or audiotaped during class group laboratory activities in a chemistry unit.…