The creation and use of models in science is of great importance for knowledge production and communication. For example, toy models are often used as idealized explanatory models in physics education. Models can be a powerful tool for exploring phenomena in ways that facilitate learning. However, careful consideration of instruction and…

This study addresses the issue of curiosity-driven inquiry learning by examining the interplay among students' inquiry-related curiosity, laboratory engagement, and inquiry abilities and investigates how their learning experiences would associate with such interplay. We employed structural equation modeling to analyze data collected from 920…

The study explores how a complexity approach empowers science learning. A complexity approach represents systems as many interacting entities. The construct of micro-macro compatibility is introduced, the degree of similarity between behaviors at the micro- and macro-levels of the system. Seventh-grade students' learning about gases was studied…

The laboratory has been given a central and distinctive role in science education, and science educators have suggested that rich benefits in learning accrue from using laboratory activities. Twenty years have been elapsed since we published a frequently cited, critical review of the research on the school science laboratory (Hofstein & Lunetta,…

The purposes of this study were to (a) gain an understanding of the views of inquiry held by faculty members involved in undergraduate science teaching and (b) describe the challenges, constraints, and opportunities that they perceived in designing and teaching inquiry-based laboratories. Participants included 19 college professors, representing…

Uses base-year data from a nationally representative database (NELS:88) to identify important explanatory factors for gender differences in science performance. Documents a large advantage for boys on the subtest of physical science and a modest advantage for girls in life science. Concludes that laboratory experiences are beneficial for girls'…

Investigates procedural understanding of university students at the freshman level, prior to instruction, in the context of experimental work in physics. Proposes two types of reasoning used by students in the laboratory. Indicates a high degree of consistency of these modes of reasoning across experimental phases of data collection and…

Describes a study in which participants in a summer institute for secondary science teachers performed a series of experiments with a radio telescope. Concludes that a radio astronomy teaching facility would encourage students to use their own initiative and strategy in working with the scientific concepts involved. (MLH)

Reviews several schemes for organizing science laboratory objectives and activities and for analyzing several techniques designed to measure these laboratory outcomes. The need for further study and analysis of psychomotor behaviors in science education is emphasized. (HM)

The purpose of this study was to explore how science teachers' epistemological beliefs and teaching goals are related to their use of lab activities. Research questions include: (1) What are the teachers' epistemological beliefs pertaining to lab activities? (2) Why do the science teachers use lab activities? (3) How are the teachers'…

This study attempted to determine at what grade levels children develop the ability to combine and control variables, the effect of the elementary science program on this development, and the relationship between a child's ability to control variables and his ability to form combinations of variables. (GS)

Describes a study that explored the interplay between students' scientific epistemological views (SEVs) and their learning in school laboratory activities. Finds that students having SEVs oriented to constructivist views of science tend to focus more on negotiating the meanings of experiments with their peers than students with SEVs more in line…

Outlines some strategies used by science teacher educators to train teachers to make laboratory lessons a place for meaningful and useful learning, including content analysis of laboratory manuals, scientific inquiry, flexible organization, concept mapping, Vee heuristics, and inquiry oriented laboratory tests. (YP)