Recent government publications like "Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy" and "Science for all Americans" have given teachers a mandate for improving science education in America. What we know about how learners construct meaning--particularly in the natural sciences--has undergone a virtual revolution in the past 25 years. Teachers, as well as researchers, are now grappling with how to better teach science, as well as how to assess whether students are learning. Assessing Science Understanding is a companion volume to Teaching Science for Understanding, and explores how to assess whether...

For almost a century, educational theory and practice have been influenced by the view of behavioural psychologists that learning is synonymous with behaviour change. In this book, the authors argue for the practical importance of an alternate view, that learning is synonymous with a change in the meaning of experience. They develop their theory of the conceptual nature of knowledge and describe classroom-tested strategies for helping students to construct new and more powerful meanings and to integrate thinking, feeling, and acting. In their research, they have found consistently that...

Science education has undergone a revolution in recent years, shifting its emphasis from breadth and memorization to depth and understanding. Teaching Science for Understanding begins with an overview of the changes in science education. It then presents a review of each major instructional strategy, information about how it is best used, and the effectiveness of the strategies for understanding and retention of information. The book presents the main strategies used to achieve this depth of understanding, including the use of computer simulations, small laboratories, and journal writing, and...