This publication contains a selection of science education research papers, beginning with an overview of trends in science education cognitive developmental research and theory in the United Kingdom. Papers that follow focus on developments in studies of thinking and reasoning, including work on concept mapping and conceptual change. Closely associated are papers focusing on teaching and learning, including studies on teachers, students, or both teachers and students, relating to verbal and non-verbal classroom communication; effect of teacher background on performance; differences in problem-solving performances; effects of instruction on understanding; and computer simulation as a means to aid concept development. Additional papers are representative of work on attitudes and perceptions. These include use of commonality analysis in analyzing teachers' attitudes and practice toward primary science, medical school students' perceptions of science, study of scientific attitudes of science educators who study scientific attitudes, students' attitudes toward conservation of environment and environmental issues, and others. The final paper uses an analysis of earlier science textbooks to identify a trend away from seeing "nature" as a symbol of performance, such that observed complexities and changes in the meaning of the symbol can be more readily accepted. (JN)