Providing fair assessment with timely feedback for students is a difficult task with science laboratory classes containing large numbers of students. Throughout our Faculty, such classes are assessed by short-answer questions (SAQs) centred on principles encountered in the laboratory. We have shown recently that computer-assisted assessment (CAA)…

While Gottlieb recognized the significance of biological factors for behavioral development, the system of psychology he developed did not cast the discipline as a purely biological science. Rather, genes, brains, hormones were understood by him as participating, rather than causal factors in behavioral origins. He worked from two basic principles…

Many plant biologists claim that there is a tremendous bias towards the study of animals in science curricula, however, there is even less attention given to topics on fungi. On average, Biology laboratory manuals will have only one fungi exercise, and most of the time, it is mainly descriptive. As we developed this exercise we realized how much…

A set of design patterns for digital item types has been developed in response to challenges identified in various projects by teachers in higher education. The goal of the projects in question was to design and develop formative and summative tests, and to develop interactive learning material in the form of quizzes. The subject domains involved…

This article is an attempt to critique some of the limitations of dominant school reform discourses in education, drawing upon the work of Michel Foucault, Michael Apple, Maxine Greene, and Dennis Carlson, in addition to writers in the emerging field of what might be called "eco-progressivism." The intersections between ecology and education can…

This study attempted to discover how well practitioners and specialists feel the community college is providing life-science education for all of its constituency. It compared opinions of 218 administrators and instructors of public and private junior and senior colleges concerning what they thought should be taught. The information was taken from…

Contained in this volume is an update and extension of the coverage of the biological sciences directory published in 1965 by the National Referral Center of the Library of Congress. The 2230 entries, organizations with specialized knowledge in the field of biological sciences, are arranged alphabetically. The name, address, telephone number,…

Contains speeches presented at the 1982 American Humanist Association Annual Conference. The author describes E.O. Wilson's contributions to the development of sociobiology. E.O. Wilson discusses the relationship of sociobiology to the biological and social sciences and to humanism. (AM)

Discusses women who have made an impact in the agricultural sciences. Profiles Elizabeth Pickney, indigo; Jane Colden, botany; Harriet Strong, irrigation and flood control; Anna Comstock, nature studies; Alice Evans, bacteriology; Edith Patch, entomology; and Beatrix Potter, botany. (JOW)

Explores the multiple challenges faced by King's College (Pennsylvania) when it decided to renovate its life sciences building and how they were successfully met. Photos are included. (GR)

A landmark group of Cornell University is dedicated to diffusing every possible information available on ornithology, the website is divided into several different sections. There is enough material in this website to cover various units in any life science or integrated science course (www.birds.cornell.edu/programs.allaboutbirds).

This paper outlines an initiative in mathematics education research that aims to augment qualitative methods of research into mathematical cognition and learning with quantitative methods of psychometrics and psychophysiology. Background and motivation are provided for this initiative, which is coming to be referred to as educational neuroscience.…

Recent education reform efforts are at the forefront of educators' minds across the nation, science teachers notwithstanding. At least 48 states have developed a mandated standardized test, the majority of which also publish an individual school proficiency report. Washington State's new standardized science test is an example of such reforms…

American science teachers in elementary and middle school face a dilemma as they prepare students for high school physics and advanced placement classes. The dilemma lies in ensuring that these students are equipped with the high-level science content they need to thrive in such classes. Aside from life sciences and chemistry sciences, how are our…