Investigations in Science Education. Volume 9, Number 3.

Overview & Synopsis

Abstractor's analyses of 15 science education research studies are presented in three sections. The nine analyses in the first section focus on studies dealing with preservice and inservice teacher education. Areas investigated in these studies include: effectiveness of some inservice practices; teachers' perceptions of the importance of some teaching behaviors; questioning skills; teacher clarity; teacher vagueness; preservice training in environmental education; and local elementary school science practices. Four analyses of studies which examined factors affecting instruction are presented in the second section. Areas investigated include: students locus of control; thinking styles of students; self-concept and school achievement; the influence of mathematics ability on performance in physics; and student reading ability and the reading level of science materials. The final section contains a review and analysis of a single study. The study focused on attitudes and their influence on education in an informal setting. Authors responses to two analyses are also included. (JN)