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Criticizes the principle of independent assortment by Gregor Mendel. Ways to distinguish between traits and material units of heredity; Difference between genotype and phenotype; Details on the nature of science.

The article presents three classroom procedures for presenting the concept of "mechanism" in biology. The term "mechanism" used in this article refers to the biological phenomena that can be accounted for a series of cause-and-effect relationships. The basis of this paper is the prevalence of anthropomorphic and teleological explanations. Each of the three classroom procedures described includes a paper-and-pencil exercise. The author of this article discusses the importance of clarifying the concept of mechanism, especially pointing out the fallacy of teleological explanations.

The article discusses a bibliography for a seminar on evolution. Colleges and universities in the U.S. teach evolution as a seminar course. Since the field is broad, journals and other papers have appeared with discussions and other necessary data useful to students and instructors alike. Leading evolutionary biologists in America have been welcomed to participate with the recent papers. The contributors include Dean Amadon of he American Musesum of Natural History, George W. Beadle of the California, Alan A. Boyden of Rutgers University, Bayard H. Brattstrom of Adelphi College and others.

The use of scientific modeling has been shown to be highly effective in the learning of science content in multiple disciplines for non‐English Learners (EL). However, the benefits of using this pedagogy with ELs have not been heavily explored. This article discusses the use of modeling‐based evolution and population ecology pedagogical units in a sheltered biology high school class for ELs. A sheltered EL class is one where only ELs are enrolled and they learn both language and science concurrently. This article specifies the at the scaffolding used to adjust the pedagogy for this unique set of students. The effectiveness of this method was assessed using a convergent mixed method case study design. Data was collected using assessments in content, scientific reasoning and attitudes towards science (i.e., self‐efficacy, fascination, and valuation of science) as well as teacher interviews, and classroom observations. The cases were an EL modeling‐based sheltered biology class, and two non‐EL inquiry‐based biology classes, all at the upper secondary level. The EL modeling cohort achieved posttest comparison content scores that were not significantly different from the non‐EL cohort and significantly higher posttest scientific reasoning scores. The effect sizes in both of these cases were much larger for the EL cohort. The affective assessments demonstrated intriguing results with the EL cohort having a greater fascination with science than the non‐EL cohort but a decline in self‐efficacy. Both cohorts valued science to the same extent. This methodology holds promise in helping to decrease the science gap between ELs and non‐ELs taught with inquiry‐based pedagogies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on how to avoid teleology in teaching science. Objective wording is available to replace most any animistic, anthropomorphic, or teleological statement, without "awkward circumlocution." Teleological expressions include "in other that," "so that," and several others. Adaptation that many writers in the field of biology let themselves slip into teleological phrases. Animistic and anthropomorphic expressions are also found in the physical sciences. When flowery figures of speech or even those without flowers are considered to enhance literary style, figurative language need not to become a way of thinking.

The article highlights the importance of biological background for teachers, as this impacts the education process. Biological knowledge for teachers is important, as the child at the receiving end of the education process is a biological creature. Although it is evident that not all the teachers will teach biological sciences, but every teacher is required to deal with the biological phenomenon that is, the child. Therefore, she needs to know about a student's structure and functioning, and the interplay of biological forces in his development and behavior. Hence, the article insists for adequate general training in biological facts and principles, for every novice- teacher in every teacher-preparing institution. While planning a curriculum leading toward a teaching credential at any level of the education process, it is advisable to include biological materials and techniques which would provide an insight into the complex matter of the growth, development, and behavior of children.

Eliciting student thinking as resources for learning is central to productive sense making. Educators use pedagogical tools such as talk moves to direct classroom conversations toward and sometimes away from student learning. This mixed methods study describes how teaching assistants (TAs) use talk moves as pedagogical tools to elicit and work with student ideas in an undergraduate general biology laboratory course. We combined mixed‐effects modeling with micro‐level analyses of discourse using conversation analysis to describe quantitative relationships and qualitative sequencing in how TAs used ambitious and conservative talk moves to meet the pedagogical goals of a planned elicitation discussion. The two major contributions of this study are: (1) the specification of the relationship between the two parts of the TA talk move/student contribution adjacency pair in the context of elicitation discussions and (2) describing sequences of talk moves and other factors that provide insight to features of more or less rigorous elicitation discussions. These contributions have implications for future research to test hypotheses based on the qualitative findings and for informing TA professional development focused on elicitation discussions. We conclude with a discussion around common considerations in instructional decision making in light of the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research about the presence of nature of science (NOS) within science textbooks has been found to be lacking in sufficient coverage. However, given the shift in how scholars conceive of NOS, the shortcomings may not be present in the textbooks but rather in the NOS frameworks used to analyze textbooks. Whereas traditional NOS has taken a more generalized approach to describing scientific practices, the family resemblance approach (FRA) to NOS recognizes variability in the scientific disciplines as reported by practicing scientists as well as philosophers and historians of science. Instead of suggesting that NOS can be applied equally in educational settings to all scientific disciplines, the FRA accounts for cognitive‐epistemic and social‐instructional conceptual elements which more authentically represent science. This study sought to evaluate textbooks using this more recent NOS conceptualization to explore the potential range of NOS aspects. Using the proposed FRA categories, seven German biology textbooks were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. The combination of cognitive‐epistemic and social‐institutional systems of science revealed that the FRA was a suitable mechanism for analyzing textbooks' coverage of NOS. Notably, FRA's distinct attention to modeling (absent from the discipline‐general NOS approach) revealed its presence in textbooks that would have gone unnoticed. Another finding was that the textbooks tended to emphasize the cognitive‐epistemic systems over the social‐institutional. Finally, this study found that even with a broader set of categories and subcategories to the FRA, the application to analyze was reliable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In formal learning spaces, students must navigate making meaning of both new knowledge and potentially new worldviews. In this qualitative grounded theory study, we examined how adult Buddhist monastic students learned about and described the origin of biodiversity in an introductory biology course. The study was conducted at a Tibetan settlement in south India during an 8‐day class that was offered as part of joint program between an American university and the Tibetan Buddhist monastic community. Informed by hybridity theory, we describe four findings regarding how the monks made meaning (i.e., deciding what to learn, framing what to learn, why they should learn, and how they could learn). The monks (1) integrated the new knowledge about physical diversity into their worldview of "mental diversity;" (2) found similarities between their worldview and academic science; (3) were both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to learn about biology; and (4) valued opportunities to engage in dialectical discourse to assist in meaning making. We conclude that the monks navigated different epistemologies demonstrating secured collateral learning. We encourage researchers to consider using a decolonized perspective when conducting studies of learning in hybrid or third spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the gender-related differences and school learning in participation in high school science activities. The sex differences were consistently huge in physics and small in biology. The item for which most deviations were most evident assessed understanding of science knowledge and application of ideas. Considering the observational data, it indicated that males participated to a greater extent than females in the public interactions with the teacher and in the data collecting segments of laboratory activities.

The article examines the curriculum for the talented student in biology in the U.S. A curriculum for the talented student in biology is one that provides a variety of environments and learning experiences through which the student may explore his interests and be stimulated to capitalize on his native abilities. Talented students in biology require guidance and inspiration from well-trained, enthusiastic, dedicated biology teachers. The total curriculum for the talented biology student is one that is well-balanced in the humanities. The curriculum includes at least one year each of chemistry and physics, a minimum of three years of mathematics, some shop experience to acquire skills in the use of tools and machines, and training in mechanical drafting.

This article presents a study on the behavioral aspects of scientific thinking. Scientific thinking involves a number of elements. Some of the major elements outlined by Keeslar includes the ability to sense a problem, ability to state a problem, ability to delimit a problem, ability to recognize facts which are related to the problem, and many more. Meanwhile, according to Burke, critical thinking is an abstraction and can have concrete meaning only when applied to some subject matter. Therefore, the behavior which constitute the elements of critical thinking must be thought of in relation to some specific field, such as biology.

The article presents information on the educational activities undertaken at a functional Demonstration Museum at the Biology Department of Kent State University in Ohio to teach students. To involve the students in individual laboratory work, and to develop freedom and initiative in students, a New Plan was adopted at Kent State University in 1936. The plan involved additional lectures for students in the University Auditorium. In the New Plan, a functional Demonstration Museum was set up for the efficient use of limited equipment. In the Museum, demonstrations, models, and audio-visuals related to classroom lectures are presented. Several preserved specimens and slides of different types are also available at the museum. Students show great interest in the demonstrations, and eventually the popularity of the museum has increased among students.

The article presents information on some of the substitutes for Paramoecium caudatum for studying biology. Paramoecium is a typical one-celled animal. Paramoecium can be cultured easily. But there are certain factors which make it unsuitable as an object of study. Some of other animals which can be used for study are Stentor coeruleus, Spirostomum ambignum and Blepharisma lateritia. Stentor is a blue trumpet-shaped animal about five times the size of Paramoecium. The animal when taken on the slide attaches itself to debris or to the bristle and remains stationary if undisturbed. The powerful adoral cilia, nucleus and the cytoplasmic inclusions are clearly visible. Spirostomumis another large animal about the same length as Stentor. He has a large worm-like shape. Its cilia, oral groove and the contractile vacuole is clearly visible even by the poorest of high-school microscopists. Blepharisma is a pink or red animal and is of the same size of Paramoecium. It has a slow movement which enables students to observe it closely.

The article discusses the right-or-left-handedness of human beings in terms of genetics and heredity. A vast area of biological theorizing and interpretation revolve around hereditary. Mendelian theory had detected genes and chromosomes to be responsible for various characteristics of human beings. The use of hand by a human being is decided by the difference in development of a portion of his brain. It has been experimentally established that the portion of brain which grows earlier in embryonic life dominates the actions of matured body. Also is the fact that what one does and the way of doing is dominated by the hand used.

Presents research investigating the relationship between adolescents' conceptual understanding of the biological basis of HIV and critical reasoning. Investigation conducted to middle and high school students about their perception of HIV; Result of the study indicating that knowledge mediated students' responses in specific ways; Discovery of relationship between the students' understanding of HIV biology and the level of biological reasoning.

This study set out to investigate the relationship between STS approach, scientific literacy (SL), and achievement in biology. A quasi-experimental design of the nonequivalent group was employed. Four secondary schools, eight teachers, and 246 students from Nigeria were involved in the study. Two classes were randomly selected from each school and assigned to either the experimental or control group. Two instruments were used to collect data: an Achievement Test on Reproduction and Family Planning and a SL Scale. Results showed that there is no relationship between SL and achievement in biology. The split-wise posttest regression showed a weak positive relationship between SL and achievement in biology for the experimental group and a no relationship for the control group. However, STS approach mediated between SL and achievement to effect a slightly stronger significant positive relationship. The slope of SL was greater when we controlled for instruction showing that the relationship between SL and achievement is not spurious when instruction is taken into account. We therefore conclude that STS approach might be affecting other variables in the science classroom that in turn affect achievement in the sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the implications of promoting conceptual understanding of diffusion and osmosis for high school biology students in the United States. Impact of concept mapping and learning cycle on conceptual understanding; Significance of expository treatment for comprehension; Difference between the learning cycle group and other treatments.

A correction to the article "A Model Biology Curriculum for Heterogeneous Seventh-Grade Biology Classes Containing Culturally Deprived Students" that was published in the 1975 issue is presented.

The article focuses on the attitudes and achievement of the Nigerian students toward learning biological concepts with the use of the computers. At the pretest level, the students did not have positive attitude toward the application of the computer for learning biological ideas. Another group of students who interactively used the computer had a more favorable response toward the use of the computer in learning the same thing. Notably, the improvement of the students' attitude toward the use of the computer were because of the capturing nature of the question and answer sessions provided by the computer.

This article interrogates biology textbooks written between 1914-1949 in terms of selective tradition well known to science educators and to historians of science. Further, it also searchers for and documents the presence of the selective tradition known as eugenics in these textbooks. In relevance to this purposes, the following questions were addressed to the texts: 1.) was eugenics presented in the textbooks as legitimate science? 2.) what was the nature of the evidence offered in support of eugenics? and 3.) what eugenical social policies were recommended? In a conclusion, they said that the eugenics was included as legitimate content in the majority of the textbooks from the archive. In addition, the specific policies which were supported by the eugenics movement were also advocated by the texts.

The article focuses on the development of new assessment instruments. According to the article, tests have been developed to assess biology process skills, general biology using a computer delivery system, and practical biological skills using an observational instrument to code language. In the physical sciences, a test for assessing misconceptions has been developed. In the affective side, an early childhood attitude scale has been developed and a scale to measure elementary teachers' efficacy beliefs.

The article discusses the study on the characteristics of senior high school science teachers in Israel. It serves the following purposes: to describe the educational goals and instructional strategies of high school science teachers in the region; to identify relationships between background variables, goals and classroom practices with special reference to differences among biology, physics and chemistry teachers; to provide explanations for the differences between the implemented curriculum in biology, physics and chemistry.

The article covers a diversity of topics ranging from analysis of specific curricular and developmental issues to questions of content determination. An interesting and very useful analysis of observation in science and science education from a philosophical perspective has been provided. The importance of observation in scientific research has been underscored. The observation can range from a relatively simple to a very complex activity. The monograph provides a historical perspective, a report of a survey of adults, policies and practices that influence biology instruction, and a conceptual framework for program design and background articles.

This article examines the content and methodology of teaching human evolution in the schools in China. The aims and goals of science teaching in China and their effects on the teaching of evolution were discussed. The introduction of Darwin's theory of evolution was also presented. The fact that one of the earliest specimens of Homo erectus was found in China has been developed by the Chinese government into a source of national pride. It was stated in the article that the major difference between man and other animals is his use and invention of tools.

The article reviews the research reports related to high school biology. A group of researchers investigated the consequences of teacher-student cognitive style matches and mismatches on student achievement in tenth grade biology. Another researcher investigated the effects on achievement of concept-related instruction organization and locus of control. A study to compare the outcomes achieved by students taking biology courses based on either the West African Examination Council (WAEC) revised biology syllabus or the WAEC developed alternative syllabus and to look at some of the factors that may be associated with outcomes was conducted by another researcher.

The article describes an analysis of the content of biology textbooks published between 1963 to 1983 in relation to evolution. The author's purpose is to describe the changes in attention to evolution as percentage of length of text and to analyze the treatment of the topic in 22 high school biology textbooks published between 1963 and 1983. She claims that studies on the coverage of evolution in secondary biology textbooks, from 1900 to the present, supports the conclusion that attention to evolution has decreased since the 1960's and that the wording and placement of material have weakened the presentations of evolution.

The article describes a study on high school biology textbooks as source of misconceptions in genetics. The authors contend that the major sources of misconceptions are conceptual organization, particularly sequencing of topics in texts, conceptual relationships, use of terms and mathematical elements. They assert that an investigation of the conceptual organization of textbooks suggest sources of misconceptions and identification of such sources will allow teachers to design more appropriate instructional materials. They suggest a psychological sequence of instruction as a way of improving the learning of genetics.

The article discusses the efforts to eliminate or neutralize the coverage of evolution in high school biology textbooks. Study subjects include 44 topics related to the study of evolution in 105 high school biology textbooks published between 1900 and 1983. The analysis of the trend of the books shows that a continued increase in the emphasis on evolution in the textbooks occurred from 1900 to 1950, then in 1950, a slight de-emphasis of evolution has occurred. The trend of the activities and influence of the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study occurred in 1960 but has not survived in 1970 because the emphasis on selected topics concerned with evolution was reduced. It emphasizes that present high school students are learning less about evolution than in the 1960 and 1970.

The article reports on the major changes, trends and dynamics in the area of the development of science education in Arab states. The Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization(ALECSO). is one of the specialized agencies concerned with education, culture and science. Regional efforts in developing biology, physics, mathematics and integrated sciences was in full swing and constituted a landmark in science education in the Arab area. Efforts were made to stress the importance of environmental education and the establishment of local and regional institutions responsible for science education development.

The article presents a study which aims to identify currently credible concepts in biology considered to be important for inclusion in K-12 curricula. The procedures employed in this study make use of scientists at the front of knowledge from the beginning and include scientists and educators with a variety of orientations. This resulted in a free flow of new information; evaluation of each statement by panels of colleagues for precision, credibility, completeness, and importance; and judgment by educators and teachers at to their importance to the education of youth. The concepts identified in this study and the importance attached to them by the national panel should be considered in developing K-12 science curricula. Hence, the concepts resulting from this study should, like all lists, be re-evaluated and revised periodically.

The article presents a model for individualized construction in public schools. The model evolved from a "eureka" which the author experienced being as he and colleagues attempts to revise and refine materials for a new science program being developed at the P. K. Laboratory School in Gainesville, Florida. The program called "Integrated Science" combined the skills of students in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. In translating this rationale into a curriculum, three interrelated parts to the program emerged: the conceptual schemes, the processes of science, and the relationship of science and society.

The article focuses on the teaching of intern program in biology and chemistry in order to curb the existing crisis in the recruitment of physics instructors in the smaller schools in the U.S. The main purpose of scheme is to increase the number of capable young educators who will make their careers in college teaching, then their internships must be on college campuses. These ideas were embodied in the proposal for the support of a teaching intern program by the Great Lakes Colleges Association.

The article evaluates the issues involving contemporary biological thinking and education. The origin of the essentially temperate zone oriented approach to biology might readily be explained in terms of the history of science in general and the history of biology in particular. Systematic attempts to expose undergraduate and graduate students of biology to the richness and diversity of tropical life have hardly begun. Widespread and intensive training of young biologists in the tropics seems beset with numerous severe difficulties.

The article relates the author's experience on using campus biotic communities in teacher training. At State University College at Potsdam in New York City he meet heterogeneous groups made up of all four types in general biology, but are most likely to meet the second type of student in elective courses such as field biology and field geology. Concepts of ecological succession, climax community, disclimaxes, ecotones, and several stages are developed with the observation on the trip, and on the follow-up class discussion meetings. Each student maintain their own aquarium and terrarium, and learn some of the techniques of the field biologist including transect and quadrat sampling, collecting and culturing, keeping data, preserving and mounting.

The article examines some general problems relative to the origin of life on earth. Living things maintain metabolic processes that chemical reactions in which compounds of one kind are absorbed by living things. Animals absorb compounds containing high free energy and excrete those with lower free energy. This dynamic metabolic process is an exceedingly important characteristic of living things. Living organisms are able to produce additional living organisms of a fairly perfect or at least operative kind and make allowance for the destruction of organisms that have been damaged or degenerated.

The article evaluates the progress report of an experimental in-service institute in science for elementary school teachers in the U.S. As a result of scientific advances and the associated publicity, elementary schools throughout the country are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of science instruction. This has led to the increased emphasis on science in the elementary school curriculum. The lack of institutes in biology for elementary teachers reflects the widely held but questionable assumption that elementary teachers have had a high school and college course in biology they need no upgrading.

The article focuses on the segment of science material that concerns on the marine environment in the U.S. The science contains a few selected principles and ideas in biology designed to create interest in biological field, more specifically in marine biology. It also provides an opportunity for direct observation and discovery. An instructional period will be used to link together all the material studied. The comprehension questions are designed to measure understanding of the concepts inherent in the material.

The author of this article explores the immensity of biology and the students' difficulty of getting a solid foundation in it. The author claims that many of the arguments against biology in college seem to be concerned with its specialism, the lack of concern for the biological foundations of human nature serves to force the vital part of biology out of human context, and to fence biologists more off into fields of specialized technologies. He asserts that the most important thing about biology is that it introduces ecology, the study of things and its relation to all other things. In addition, he suggests the need to emphasize the history of scientific methods, the results of their application to various fields of man's environment, and their place in culture and society to students.

The article presents hypothetical and realistic models in the teaching of genetics in elementary. It shows a series of educational devices of use for the realistic aspects of heredity which includes the illustration of heredity with the use of gamete formation. It discusses the distinction between Mendelian, genotype and phenotype ratios. It also mentions devices of use in testing for a hypothetical understanding of heredity. Having the students know the devices and the discussions, made them understand genetics easier, even without the complications of advanced mathematics, statistics and biology.

The article examines the use of ecology in teaching Science to children. Ecological studies promotes understanding on the vital scientific concepts among children. In the study of the biological community, children are constantly shifting their attention from the whole community to an examination of its parts. They become involved, they can improve their use of basic skills in communication and analytical thinking through the study and interacting among all parts of the biological community.

The article focuses on the importance of understanding and guidance for students taking up courses in scientific and technical education, according to a research conducted at the Louisiana State University in Louisiana. The research team determined the student's primary mental ability. The inventory of emotional tone, adjustment and personality. The problem of stimulating the class by acquainting them with recent developments in biological research. The motivations of people to work in order to satisfy inner needs for self-maximization.

The article examines the variety of treatment as regards teleology in several textbooks in biology. No effort was made to obtain statistical sampling; nor all of the recently published textbooks. The method of selection is that use by Herrick. Also, no effort was made to read the entire volume. Certain items, such as "adaptation," "evolution," "mimicry," "tropism," "vitalism," and others. One outstanding difference among these text is that some clearly state the inadequacy of teleological explanations; others seem to omit the point altogether.

The article cites a study from the U.S. which sought to determine the backgrounds, characteristics and circumstances of scientists. The study aims to guide the selection and promote the recruitment of young persons into scientific work. The investigation involved the study of a group of sixty men who had earned doctoral degree in the biological and social sciences. The chief objective of this study was to determine what personal traits and background factors were to be found among biological scientists. The scientists studied gave no evidence of any characteristic personal peculiarities. They reported that they enjoyed social contacts.

The article profiles Doctor George Clayton Wood, author and noted pioneer in general science and biology in New York. Wood completed his requirements for a Ph.D. in history by writing a thesis entitled "Congressional Control of Foreign Affaires, 1775-1789. Doctor Wood became a principal at the Jefferson Street Grammar School during 1900-1902. In 1922, Wood was appointed to write a general science syllabus. He has been a prolific writer and lecturer along science education lines and he has made a significant contributions to the teachings of General Science and Biology.

The article discusses several problems concerning biology sciences in general education in the U.S. There are several issues which pose challenges to the curriculum worker including the type of science courses to be offered, laboratory works, discussion of biology courses by specialists or by an instructor, questions on imposing biology courses as part of requirements for a college degree, and inclusion of introductory biology course in college. The curriculum workers tried to solve these issues that continue to plague biology teachers as general education are being organized in colleges and universities.

The article focuses on the cooperative project by the National Association for Research in Science Teaching and the Office of Education, Science Education Research Studies, that summarizes seventy-three research studies in science education in the U.S. The status of general biology in the teacher education situations in public schools is investigated. The principal objectives of the course in biology were the development of an understanding of basic principles and understanding of the relationship of biology to life.

The article focuses on the analysis of principles and activities of importance for general biology courses in high schools. It develops a list of principles of biological science and to evaluate them on the basis of their importance for general education. Principles and experiments for integrated physical science courses are dealt at the high school level. The evaluation of principles for use in high school biology courses involved three problems such as, the selection of a qualified jury, the construction of a checklist containing directions for evaluation of a list of principles of biological science for use at the high school level, and the tabulation of the evaluations of the jury.

The article discusses the preparation of a syllabus based upon a determination of the relative importance of the biological principles judged in terms of criteria of general education. The selection of the principles of biology to be used in this project was undertaken in order to determine what principles of biology have important applications to the criteria of general education. In selecting the principles of biology, the investigator analyzed four studies that listed many principles of biology. As a result of integrating and synthesizing the principles of biology from these studies, forty-two principles of biology were obtained. Several teachers of college biology assisted the investigator in selecting the principles of biology.

The article discusses the science experiences of non-science curricula students of high school at San Fransisco State College. It aims to revise the basic science courses required for graduation of all students. Five hundred six students listed the science courses taken during their ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades in school. The data obtained revealed that the courses most frequently reported were chemistry (56.9 percent), biology (44.8 percent), general science (37.5 percent), physics (28.8 percent), physiology (24.3 percent), and general physical science (3.75 percent). It also outlined the areas of science that were lacking in the non-science curricula college students. It includes no experience in biology, chemistry, physics, physical sciences, and slight experience in biology study.