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In New York State (NYS), Earth science teachers use the "National Science Education Standards" (NSES), the NYS "Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science and Technology" (NYS Standards), and the "Physical Setting/Earth Science Core Curriculum" (Core Curriculum) to create local curricula and daily lessons. In this study, a purposeful sample of experienced and innovative teachers provided insight on how NYS Earth science teachers organize their scope and sequences, align their lessons with the State standards-based documents, establish internal lesson coherence, and prepare their students for the state assessment, the Physical Setting/Earth Science Regents Examination (Regents Exam). Teachers provided responses to a questionnaire regarding their scope and sequence and typical lessons they teach for each unit. These data were then reviewed by the first author as well as by a team of Earth science education experts. Teachers' scope and sequences were well aligned with the Core Curriculum and Regents, but misalignment was found between their lessons and the Core Curriculum as well as between the stated objectives for their students and evaluation of those objectives. The insights gained from this analysis of the NYS system could be helpful to other states as they move toward increased standards-based Earth science curricula. Among other suggestions, it is recommended that the Core Curriculum be revised to emphasize alignment principles and more opportunity be provided for teacher professional development focused on alignment issues relative to the state standards and enhanced internal lesson coherence.

Phymatosorus scolopendria, commonly known as monarch fern or wart fern, grows naturally as an epiphyte, lithophyte, or terrestrial plant primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome, and is widely distributed in Africa, Southeastern Asia, Indonesia, and extending south to northeastern Australia. It has become naturalized in Florida, Bermuda, Hawaii, and localities in South America. Although it is widely distributed geographically, and maintained in cultivation, less is known about its physiological ecology. This is a report of the photosynthesis, respiration, and physiological properties of P. scolopendria grown under controlled laboratory conditions with moderate light intensity of 100 µmol m–2 s–1 and temperature of 25C, approximating semi-shaded environmental conditions. Maximum net photosynthesis rate based on leaf area was 1.50 µmol m–2 s–1, and based on leaf dry weight was 1,581.80 nmol CO2 gdw–1 min–1. Dark respiration rate based on leaf area was 0.24 µmol CO2 m–2 s–1, and per leaf dry weight was 319.54 nmol CO2 gdw min–1. The specific leaf area was 209.52. Mean density of stomata on the abaxial leaf surface was 3,242 cm–2, and leaf stomatal water vapor conductance was c. 62 mmol H2O m–2 s–1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern neuroscientific research has substantially enhanced our understanding of the human brain. However, many challenges remain in developing a strong, brain-based theory of human learning, especially in complex environments such as educational settings. Some of the current issues and challenges in our progress toward developing comprehensive neuroscientific-based theories of human learning, particularly in the academic disciplines, are reviewed, beginning with a brief summary of the history of publications in science learning. This is followed by an analysis of some of the large-scale issues and conceptual problems that we currently face in developing a strong, middle-ground "neuroeducational theory" relevant to learning, especially in rather abstract disciplines such as mathematics and science. Finally, some perspectives on possible future strategies and challenges in reaching the goal of a neuroeducational theory are presented.

This study compared the effects of a constructivist-visual mind map teaching approach (CMA) and of a traditional teaching approach (TTA) on (a) the quality and richness of students' knowledge structures and (b) TTA and CMA students' perceptions of the extent that a constructivist learning environment (CLE) was created in their classes. The sample of the study consisted of six classes (140 Form 3 students of 13-15 years old) selected from a typical coeducational school in Brunei. Three classes (40 boys and 30 girls) were taught using the TTA while three other classes (41 boys and 29 girls) used the CMA, enriched with PowerPoint presentations. After the interventions (lessons on magnetism), the students in both groups were asked to describe in writing their understanding of magnetism accrued from the lessons. Their written descriptions were analyzed using flow map analyses to assess their content knowledge and its organisation in memory as evidence of cognitive structure. The extent of CLE was measured using a published CLE survey. The results showed that the cognitive structures of the CMA students were more extensive, thematically organised and richer in interconnectedness of thoughts than those of TTA students. Moreover, CMA students also perceived their classroom learning environment to be more constructivist than their counterparts. It is, therefore, recommended that teachers consider using the CMA teaching technique to help students enrich their understanding, especially for more complex or abstract scientific content.

This study proposes a multi-dimensional approach to investigate, represent, and categorize students' in-depth understanding of complex physics concepts. Clinical interviews were conducted with 30 undergraduate physics students to probe their understanding of heat conduction. Based on the data analysis, six aspects of the participants' responses were identified as nominal scales and designated as six dimensions in a multi-axis (star) diagram to represent their in-depth understanding of heat conduction. The results demonstrated a wide diversity of the participants' in-depth understanding of heat conduction. In addition, the proportions of participants' naive ideas in the six dimensions were low, and many of them used some viable, sophisticated rules for explaining relevant phenomena of heat conduction. Furthermore, the patterns of the multi-dimensional diagram illustrated that the participants who, across all dimensions, possessed scientifically accepted understanding performed better in the probes of their scientific explanations. This study also discusses the educational and instructional values of this multi-dimensional analysis, and particularly highlights the importance of investigating students' multi-dimensional understanding to more fully account for the large variance in individual differences likely to be encountered in instructional settings. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

Current research indicates that students with enhanced knowledge networks are more effective in learning science content and applying higher order thinking skills in open-ended inquiry learning. This research examined teacher implementation of a novel teaching strategy called "web diagramming," a form of network mapping, in a secondary school earth science class. We report evidence for student improvement in knowledge networking, questionnaire-based reports by the students on the merits of web diagramming in terms of interest and usefulness, and information on the collaborating teacher's perceptions of the process of implementation, including implications for teacher education. This is among the first reports that teachers can be provided with strategies to enhance student knowledge networking capacity, especially for those students whose initial networking scores are among the lowest.

This study first used a new approach, combining students' ontological beliefs and process explanations, to represent students' mental models of heat conduction and then examined the relationships between their mental models and their predictions. Clinical interviews were conducted to probe 30 undergraduate physics students' mental models and their predictions about heat conduction. This study adopted a constant comparative method to discover patterns of the participants' responses across the various sources of data, such as verbal utterances, writings, and drawings. The results indicate that, based on the identified five process analogies for how heat is conducted and three ontological beliefs about the material basis for heat conduction, the combinations of these two aspects can better represent their mental models in terms of both the underlying mechanisms and emergent processes of heat conduction than using either alone as has sometimes been done in prior research. In addition, while a scientifically accepted mental model had a better chance to be accompanied by a correct prediction, a correct prediction might not result from a scientifically accepted mental model. However, as suggested by some cognitive psychologists, regardless of which mental models the participants possessed, they tended to automatically retrieve their learned rules or past experience, instead of manipulating their mental models, to generate predictions for the encountered problems. (Contains 2 figures and 6 tables.)

Bioinformatics, merging biological data with computer science, is increasingly incorporated into school curricula at all levels. This case study of 10 secondary school students highlights student individual differences (especially the way they processed information and integrated procedural and analytical thought) and summarizes a variety of critical situations that teachers may encounter when teaching bioinformatics. Students who integrated factual information with procedural and analytical skills were closest to content mastery; while students who had fundamental deficiencies in factual recall or were less adept in integrating higher order knowledge with specific facts and procedural skills had difficulty mobilizing critical analytical skills needed to master the bioinformatics tasks. Broader implications are presented for teacher education, curriculum design, and research.

Investigates the effects of interactive computer-based simulations presented prior to inquiry-based laboratory experiments on students' conceptual understanding of mechanics, waves/optics, and thermal physics. Uses conceptual tests to assess conceptual understandings of each topic. Indicates that the use of the simulations improved students' ability to make acceptable predictions and explanations of the phenomena in the experiment. (Author/KHR)

Examines senior high school students' cognitive orientation toward scientific or social information, designated as information preference, and associated preferential reasoning modes when presented with an environmental issue concerning nuclear energy usage. Investigates the association of information preference variable with academic and personal background attributes. Discusses performance in science as a predictor of the information preference and students' preferences and reasoning modes. (Author/KHR)

Interviews 9th and 10th grade students (n=13) who studied an ecology unit and analyzed tape-recorded data for changes in organization of knowledge, represented by ideational networks and the development of higher cognitive operations. Provides insights into how students developed knowledge schemata, ideational networks, and the capacity to express ecological understandings using higher order cognitive operations over several weeks. (Contains 38 references.) (Author/ASK)

Assesses ideational networks based on a written narrative of seventh grade students who had begun a unit on evolution. Indicates that students who scored high on the content analyses of their written narrative and whose narrative contained extensive ideational network linkages also tended to use a logical, sequential rule of ordering their thoughts. (Contains 43 references.) (Author/ASK)

Salvinia minima is a relatively small, floating aquatic leptosporangiate fern in the family Salviniaceae. It is widely distributed in the horticultural trade as an ornamental plant for aquaria and aquatic gardens. Consequently, it has escaped into the natural environment where it produces large, dense mats of branching ramets that are often deleterious to other aquatic biota, particularly in tropical and mild temperate regions. This is a report of a laboratory experimental study of the growth, photosynthesis and dark respiration of S. minima, particularly addressing the variables in a way that is potentially relevant for environmental and ecological research applications. Photosynthetic carbon assimilation rates are inversely related to the leaf area of the ramets, and approximates a second-order polynomial function defined by non-linear regression analysis (p < 0.01); namely, A = 6.3761 - 0.3381 * L + 0.005 * L2, where A is CO2 assimilation rate (µmol m–2 s–1) and L is leaf area of the ramets (cm2). Data are also presented on the quantum yield efficiency (Fv/Fm) and electron transfer (ET0/RC) for ramet leaves of different sizes, indicating that low quantum yield efficiency most likely accounts for lower CO2 assimilation rates in more mature ramets with larger leaves. The dark respiration is approximately equivalent to 30% of the net photosynthesis CO2 assimilation rate. The relative growth rate (RGR) is 0.03 accounting for about a 4% gain in weight per day relative to the initial weight of the S. minima ramets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how some fundamental mechanisms of nervous system activity can explain human information processing and the acquisition of knowledge and provides additional theoretical support for constructivist applications to science education reform. The implications for scientific epistemology and conceptual change processes in science education are discussed. (Author/MVL)

Investigated is a reader's ability to comprehend written text that is highly novel with few semantic cues. The theoretical perspective, assessment theory, materials and methods, and the results of this study are discussed. (KR)