Reports on research undertaken as part of 'Keeping School Science in Step with the Changing World of the 21st Century'. Describes the development and evaluation of test and teacher assessment items for evaluating understanding of the National Curriculum (England and Wales) Sc1 component, Ideas and Evidence. (Contains 19 references.) (Author/YDS)

Presents personal experiences after receiving under performance criticism at key stage 3. Recommends considering content changes due to changes in the National Curriculum. Discusses ways of making change in the content and applying the new curriculum to education. (YDS)

Reports the findings of a questionnaire-based study of the experiences of secondary science teachers under the British National Curriculum. Suggests a model for future control of the science curriculum. (Author/CCM)

The author's favourite film musical is "The King and I." Of the several catchy songs in the film her favourite is "Getting to know you," which is sung firstly by the governess to the children and then the children to her. The author hereby declares this to be "The Song of Science," with "you" being the "system" being studied (e.g. plant, elastic…

The National Science Education Standards present a vision of a scientifically literate populace. The standards outline what students need to know, understand, and be able to do to be scientifically literate at different grade levels. They describe an educational system in which all students demonstrate high levels of performance, teachers are…

Reports on a survey of primary teachers on science curriculum development. Cites a plethora of planning terminology and lack of a government-agency model for a primary science plan as obstacles to curriculum planning. Presents a curriculum planning model derived from the rationale that curriculum should be learning-outcomes-driven. (PVD)

Suggests science taught at Key Stage 3 (ages 11-14) has changed little over the past two decades despite introduction of National Curriculum reforms. Notes high stakes testing at the end of Key Stage 2 (ages 7-11) has resulted in less experimentation in Year 6. Examines structural factors responsible for the current situation. (BT)

Discusses trends in teaching about the nature of science in England. Two themes characterize teaching the nature of science; one concerns reflection on school experiment, and the other is about reflecting on aspects of scientific theory at different ages. (PR)

The question of whether religious explanations about the origin of life should be taught alongside scientific accounts in compulsory science education has sparked controversy in several countries for decades. An important site for these controversies is media reporting. This article presents the results of a quantitative and qualitative analysis…

British students who had compulsory science in the National Curriculum from ages 11-16 (n=115) had significantly higher scores on a science test than those for whom secondary science had been optional (n=30). Almost all had very low scores on questions related to the circulatory system and sound and light, regardless of their science background.…

Since 1990 the science curriculum in Northern Ireland has gone through three major changes. In the beginning, fifteen attainment targets were introduced to an unsuspecting and largely unprepared teaching population: these were eventually reduced to five in 1993 and then to the present two in 1996. Unlike in England, technology has never stood as…

Describes the current state of science education in Finland. Highlights include schools and school science, primary school, the 1994 national curriculum and primary science, and results on the new national curriculum and textbooks. (JRH)

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), collaborating with Policy Studies Associates and a panel of experts in mathematics and science education, has completed a study of states' curriculum frameworks development and standards-setting from 1994. The Council study analyzed the content and quality of state frameworks and standards…

The article considers the distinction between first- and second-generation science curriculum projects, and describes the first national curriculum developed in Australia, the Australian Science Education Project (ASEP). (MK)

A classroom assessment of students' work against Britain's National Curriculum is presented. Some development work that focuses primarily on Teacher Assessment of Profile Component 2 is described. How this work has been tested in the classroom is explained. Some comments upon the initiative in the light of evaluation are also included. (KR)