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Nature of science (NOS) has been a target of interest for decades. The main goal of this study is to explore the impact of the science, technology, society, environment (STSE) approach on students' understanding of NOS, taking "Galileo's study of free-fall motion" as an example. Participants in this study were 350 students of grade 10 from a public high school in China. The Student Science Understanding and Scientific Inquiry (SUSSI) instrument was used in the intervention and control groups to explore the impact on students' NOS. The intervention group (N = 210) participated in the STSE class, whereas traditional instruction was applied to the control group (N = 140). Results revealed that there was a significant difference between the two groups, and the learners in the intervention group understood NOS better than the control group. STSE approach is an effective way to enhance students' understanding of NOS. Despite the fact that the implementation is challenging for teachers, it appears that the STSE approach has positive effects on students' understanding of NOS, which offers some reference for physics classroom teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationships between values and physical activity in France (a Western European individualistic country) and in China (an East Asian collectivist country). Method: Six hundred and twenty-seven sport science students in France (N = 308, Mage = 18.99, SD = 1.64) and China (N = 319, Mage = 20.44, SD = 1.09) completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire long version and the Portrait Values Questionnaire. Results: In both France and China, moderated regression analysis revealed that hedonism positively/negatively predicted physical activity, while security-societal, security-personal, and conformity-rules values negatively predicted physical activity. In contrast, stimulation and universalism-nature values positively predicted physical activity only in France. In China, benevolence and benevolence-care positively predicted physical activity, while power dominance negatively predicted physical activity. Additionally, we found evidence of measurement invariance of the value questionnaire. Discussion and conclusion: Our findings add to the literature by showing that the value--behavior link is partly the same across countries and partly different. Further, our findings show that for certain populations, the previously established hierarchy of human values does not replicate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Research and teaching in biomedical sciences has led to huge advances in human wellbeing. However, some research activities require the use of non-human animals and can entail animal suffering. This suffering is obviously detrimental to the animal but can also negatively impact learners' and researchers' emotions or weaken the validity of the activity's scientific outcomes. Taking a more compassionate approach in these research activities has the potential to address these issues, but compassion in the human–animal relationship is often only indirectly addressed in biomedical sciences teaching, and we need new ways of exploring this. Here, we developed a survey to measure compassion towards laboratory animals and used it in groups of biomedical sciences students in the UK and China. In line with other studies on compassion, we found that females are more compassionate than males and that nationality/culture-related differences are present. We found that students with lower levels of compassion are more likely to accept animal suffering in a research setting, and while exploring whether specific beliefs about animals' mental capacities were linked to compassion, we found that a belief that animals are conscious is associated with higher levels of compassion. This survey can be used to investigate compassion towards lab animals, including investigations of ways to enhance compassion, and may help us create a more compassionate and scientifically robust setting for teaching, learning and research activities involving animals. Taking a compassionate approach to the non-human animals used in biomedical research is in line with emerging ideas around a "culture of care". It is important to expose biomedical sciences students to the concept of a culture of care at an early stage and give them opportunities to explore related practices and ideas. However, there is no simple tool to explore biomedical sciences students' attitudes towards laboratory animals. Accordingly, there is little understanding of students' feelings towards these animals, or a means of quantifying potential changes to these feelings. We developed a 12-item questionnaire designed to explore compassion (the Laboratory Animal Compassion Scale; LACS) and used it with UK-based and China-based samples of undergraduate biomedical sciences students. In the same samples, we also explored a harm–benefit analysis task and students' beliefs regarding some mental characteristics of laboratory animals, then drew correlations with the quantitative measure of compassion. Compassion levels were stable across years of study and were not related to students' level of experience of working with laboratory animals. We observed a higher level of compassion in females versus males overall, and a higher level overall in the UK-based versus China-based sample. In a task pitting animal suffering against human wellbeing, students' compassion levels correlated negatively with their acceptance of animal suffering. Compassion levels correlated positively with a belief in animals being conscious and possessing emotions. These data are in line with studies that show compassion is gender- and nationality/culture-dependent, and points to links between compassion, beliefs, and choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engagement increases the success rate of students in higher education. This work aimed to determine the effect of extended reality learning (XR) experience on student engagement in science and engineering courses, using the Marzano and Kendall's taxonomy of education. Higher education students' perception of relevance, motivation, self-efficacy, and emotions after participating in an XR learning activity were measured. Two case studies corresponding to two technological institutions of higher education, one in Mexico and one in China, were investigated. The first employed an augmented reality (ART3D) application in a biology course, while the second used a virtual reality (Manta) technology in a chemistry course. Both sets of students answered the same questionnaire. A survey of four Likert-scale and one open-ended question was analyzed using a mixed-methods approach. Descriptive statistics analysis, normality tests, Mood's Median Test, Qualitative emotions codification was made over the answers to the open-ended question. Results show that engagement-related self-system thinking factors, relevance, motivation, and self-efficacy, are high when an XR is used as an educational strategy. In the case of an AR learning resource, relevance, motivation, and emotions were correlated. In contrast, in the case of a VR learning resource, self-efficacy in skills and critical-thinking competence were related to positive emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of digital reading during educational disruption on science and engineering students' learning experience. Before the pandemic, some studies explored whether university students preferred using printed or digital resources for their academic readings. Amidst the pandemic, online learning became essential. Several studies showed students' preference for printed text. This paper extends a pilot study that was conducted during the first COVID-19 wave in China. A survey consisting of Likert questions and open questions was designed using MS-Forms. The survey was shared with the science and engineering students in Years 2–4 (Levels 1–3) of their study at SWJTU-Leeds Joint School, Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, China. This covered students from four undergraduate programs: Civil Engineering with Transport, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Science. In total, 223 students participated in this study. The survey was anonymous and was made available to students for a month. The participation rate is nearly 27%. Findings indicate that the behavior of science and engineering students toward digital reading was different than other majors, and it is generally favorable. The necessity for online learning during educational disruption has encouraged some students to develop their digital reading skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communication technology (ICT) is key to educational development. This study explores the mechanism influencing the use of ICT on students' science literacy. We utilized two-level hierarchical linear models and structural equation models to analyze data collected from the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in China. Results indicate that student-level and school-level ICT factors, in particular ICT interest, autonomy in using ICT, and ICT availability at school positively impact the development of students' science literacy. Further, we found some notable interactions between school-level factors and student-level ICT variables. Moreover, there are structural relationships among ICT availability, ICT emotional perception, ICT learning usage behaviors, science self-efficacy, and science literacy. We also found that teacher-delivered science instruction has a negative moderating effect on ICT learning usage and science self-efficacy. These findings have important implications of how to integrate ICT in future science teaching practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated science is a ubiquitous school subject that is found in primary and middle-school levels around the world. Being a hybrid subject comprising several science disciplines, it poses many challenges to teachers as they are obliged to teach beyond their disciplinary comfort zones. In addition, this subject is prone to a lack of coherence, which helps people see how a small number of key ideas in a discipline can build upon each other to deepen understanding. Using integrated science textbooks from mainland China since 1990 as a case study, their (i) disciplinary emphasis (i.e. which topics & disciplines were emphasised) and, (ii) coherence of topics were therefore examined. The results showed that physical science topics were heavily and consistently emphasised in these textbooks, which likewise corresponded with the high number of buttress topics found in this discipline. Life science topics were the next most emphasised followed by earth science ones, a trend present since the 1990s in this country. We conclude with implications for improving science teacher training/professional development as well as student scientific literacy from this study of disciplinary emphasis and coherence in integrated science textbooks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective/background: In mainland China, most universities offer general rehabilitation curricula rather than specialized curricula. The purpose of the current study is to investigate senior students' academic motivation for rehabilitation and examine whether it varies among different curriculum structures, students' gender, specific interests, and parental average education level. Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited both senior students in general and those who specialized in rehabilitation curricula using an online survey. The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) was used to measure academic motivation. Results: The response rate was 74.68%, and 59 senior students in total (male: 34.48%; female: 65.52%) were analyzed. Twenty-nine (50.00%) students were from a general rehabilitation curriculum at Guangxi Medical University, and the rest (n = 29, 50.00%) were from a specialized curriculum at West China Medical School of Sichuan University. The overall average academic motivation score was 30.96 ± 5.92. Students in the specialized rehabilitation curriculum (32.85 ± 6.26) showed a significantly higher academic motivation score than those in the general rehabilitation curriculum (29.10 ± 5.00, p<0.05). Male (31.13 ± 5.67) and female (30.88 ± 6.12) students had equally high scores (p = 0.88). Students who had specific interests (29.81 ± 4.73) and those who did not (24.69 ± 4.92) shared the same academic motivation (t = 2.00, p = 0.06). Conclusions: Senior rehabilitation science students in specialized curricula have higher levels of academic motivation than those in general curricula. There was no significant difference in academic motivation scores based on students' gender, specific interests, or parental average education levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interdisciplinary approach is viewed as the best way to learn about and perceive complex scientific phenomena in the real world; therefore, students need to develop interdisciplinary habits of mind in K-12 science education. This article provided a framework for understanding middle school students' interdisciplinary competence that included four dimensions, each with three performance levels. Science educators have claimed that the current assessment system is still oriented towards single discipline-based science learning. Therefore, this study presented a validated instrument based on our multidimensional construct to explore students' interdisciplinary competence. The participants in this study were 385 9th graders in Henan Province in China. Multidimensional Rasch analysis suggested that this measure had satisfactory reliability and validity. All the students demonstrated the basic level of ability for each dimension. More competent science learners were found to achieve higher ability levels. In addition, students with different scientific proficiencies underperformed in different dimensions. Implications and suggestions for interdisciplinary science teaching and assessment were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little research has been conducted on the intention to obtain HPV vaccine now that the vaccine is approved for use in China. Acceptance of the three HPV vaccines, which differ in valency and price, has never been investigated. An online cross-sectional survey assessing female undergraduate students' intention to obtain the HPV vaccine and their acceptability of 2-, 4- and 9-valent HPV vaccines (2vHPV, 4vHPV, and 9vHPV, respectively). Of a total of 997 complete responses, 55.2% reported intent to obtain the HPV vaccine. Some of the significant factors exerting influence on intent to obtain HPV vaccination were high knowledge score (OR = 1.469, 95% CI:1.087–1.987), perceived high risk of HPV infection (OR = 1.466, 95%CI:1.017–2.114), perception of no serious side effects (OR = 1.562, 95%CI:1.150–2.121), and mass media exposure to HPV vaccination information (OR = 2.196, 95%CI: 1.625–2.966). Socioeconomic status indicators did not significantly influence intent to obtain the HPV vaccine. A higher proportion of respondents were willing to pay for 2vHPV (78.6%) and 4vHPV (68.0%) compared with 9vHPV (49.3%). Socioeconomic status indicators were the strongest correlates of acceptability for all the three vaccines. Exposure to mass media reporting about HPV vaccination is the factor which exerts the most influence on acceptance of 9vHPV after socioeconomic status indicators. It is important to improve knowledge and health beliefs, and to establish a mass media marketing strategy to promote HPV vaccination in order to enhance HPV vaccine uptake. Undergraduate female students should be provided with detailed information about the different valency vaccine choices to help them make informed decisions about immunization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hypochondriac symptoms are commonly reported in health science students. With their incomplete medical knowledge, they may compare their own bodily symptoms with disease symptoms during the process of learning, which can lead to mental distress and the need for repeated medical reassurance. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of hypochondriac symptoms in Chinese health science students. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted on PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Biology Medicine disc, and Wanfang Data on July 1, 2018. Additionally, the references of the retrieved papers were searched. Cross-sectional studies published in either English or Chinese that reported the prevalence of hypochondriac symptoms in health science students were included. The selection process was executed based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis, and study quality was assessed with the checklist recommended by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for cross-sectional studies. A random-effects model according to the DerSimonian-Laird method was used to calculate the pooled prevalence. Results: Seven cross-sectional studies involving 6,217 Chinese health science students were included. The pooled prevalence of hypochondriac symptoms among health science students was 28.0% (95% CI = 19.0%–38.0%). The symptoms were a little more common in females (30.0%, 95% CI = 19.0%–42.0%) than in males (29.0%, 95% CI = 16.0%–42.0%), but the difference was not significant. No significant differences were found between participants grouped by study year. Only three studies explored the coping styles of students with hypochondriasis, and these revealed a high tendency toward help-seeking behaviors. Conclusion: Our systematic review and meta-analysis showed a high prevalence of hypochondriac symptoms among health science students, indicating that it is a noteworthy phenomenon. We suggest that counseling and other support services are necessary for health science students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a sociocultural perspective was adopted to understand the interplay between identity and agency in a context of science education reform in China. The manifestation of agency and the interaction between identity and agency were examined with two beginning science teachers teaching with practical work in high school. As part of this study, the identity formation of beginning science teachers was conceived as a site for locating and investigating teacher agency. Based on multiple data sources, we identified six spaces in which the two participants' agency manifested: (1) personal characteristics; (2) personal beliefs; (3) interactions with students; (4) interactions with colleagues; (5) curriculum materials; and (6) high-stakes examinations. In each space, the two participants' agency contrasted in terms of perspectives and actions: one was passive, less confident and negative, whereas the other active, more confident and positive. Moreover, it was found that their contrary actions were the result of different perspectives. Based on the findings, a model of the interplay between the identity and agency of an individual science teacher is proposed in a context of curriculum reform. The implications of this model for future research and science teacher development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the role of computer-supported knowledge-building discourse and epistemic reflection in promoting elementary-school students’ scientific epistemology and science learning. The participants were 39 Grade 5 students who were collectively pursuing ideas and inquiry for knowledge advance using Knowledge Forum (KF) while studying a unit on electricity; they also reflected on the epistemic nature of their discourse. A comparison class of 22 students, taught by the same teacher, studied the same unit using the school’s established scientific investigation method. We hypothesised that engaging students in idea-driven and theory-building discourse, as well as scaffolding them to reflect on the epistemic nature of their discourse, would help them understand their own scientific collaborative discourse as a theory-building process, and therefore understand scientific inquiry as an idea-driven and theory-building process. As hypothesised, we found that students engaged in knowledge-building discourse and reflection outperformed comparison students in scientific epistemology and science learning, and that students’ understanding of collaborative discourse predicted their post-test scientific epistemology and science learning. To further understand the epistemic change process among knowledge-building students, we analysed their KF discourse to understand whether and how their epistemic practice had changed after epistemic reflection. The implications on ways of promoting epistemic change are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the 2011 (Chinese) Student Academic Achievement Evaluation, we examined whether within-school socioeconomic gaps in science achievement exist across science subjects, how consistent they are, and whether there are relationships between school average science achievement and within-school socioeconomic gaps in science achievement. Results of multivariate multilevel analyses indicate that for both fathers and mothers within-school socioeconomic gaps in science achievement existed among schools but did not vary much across schools. School mean socioeconomic status and teacher experience were related to these gaps. Schools were strongly consistent in within-school socioeconomic gaps in science achievement across science subjects, and this consistency was independent of (robust to) student and school characteristics. The relationships between school average science achievement and within-school socioeconomic gaps in science achievement were rather weak among schools across science subjects, and the addition of school characteristics to student characteristics effectively demolished the relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Nature of science (NOS) is beginning to find its place in the science education in China. In a study which investigated Chinese science teacher educators' conceptions of teaching NOS to prospective science teachers through semi-structured interviews, five key dimensions emerged from the data. This paper focuses on the dimension, NOS content to be taught to prospective science teachers. Among a total of twenty NOS elements considered by the Chinese science teacher educators to be important ideas to be taught, five were suggested by no less than a half of the educators. They are (1) empirical basis of scientific investigation, (2) logics in scientific investigation, (3) general process of scientific investigation, (4) progressive nature of scientific knowledge, and (5) realist views of mind and natural world. This paper discusses the influence of Marxism, a special socio-cultural factor in China, on Chinese science teacher educators' conceptions of NOS content to be taught to prospective science teachers. We argue the importance of considering ideological traditions (mainly those in general philosophy and religion) when interpreting views of NOS or its content to be taught in different countries and regions and understanding students' conceptual ecology of learning NOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The objective of the instructional experiment was to examine if the use of thinking styles is flexible in traditional and hypermedia learning environments, and if a hypermedia learning environment possesses obvious advantages than a traditional environment in adapting to students with different thinking styles. The participant university students from Shanghai, P.R. China took the General Psychology course taught by one psychology teacher. One hundred and seven science students and one hundred and thirty-one social science students were assigned into traditional and hypermedia instructional groups, respectively. The results indicated that the use of the hierarchical, executive, conservative, and monarchic styles was increased, while the use of the local style was decreased due to the traditional instructional environment. The use of the judicial and liberal styles was increased, while the use of the legislative style was weakened due to the hypermedia environment. Moreover, significant effects of discipline differences in the use of particular thinking styles were found in the traditional instructional environment. Specifically, within the context of traditional learning environments, the use of the hierarchical style increased among the science students, while the use of the local style decreased among the social science students. The study did not support the view that a hypermedia learning environment is clearly better than a traditional environment in accommodating students with different thinking styles. Implications for learning and teaching are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As the breadth and depth of economic reforms increase in China, growing attention is being paid to equalities in opportunities to learn science by students of various backgrounds. In early 2009, the Chinese Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science and Technology jointly sponsored a national survey of urban eighth-grade students' science literacy along with their family and school backgrounds. The present study focused on students' understanding of basic science concepts and principles (BSCP), a subset of science literacy. The sample analyzed included 3,031 students from 109 randomly selected classes/schools. Correlation analysis, one-way analysis of variance, and two-level linear regression were conducted. The results showed that having a refrigerator, internet, more books, parents purchasing books and magazines related to school work, higher father's education level, and parents' higher expectation of the education level of their child significantly predicted higher BSCP scores; having siblings at home, owning an apartment, and frequently contacting teachers about the child significantly predicted lower BSCP scores. At the school level, the results showed that being in the first-tier or key schools, having school libraries, science popularization galleries, computer labs, adequate equipment for teaching, special budget for teacher training, special budget for science equipment, and mutual trust between teachers and students significantly predicated higher BSCP scores; and having science and technology rooms, offering science and technology interest clubs, special budget for science curriculum development, and special budget for science social practice activities significantly predicted lower BSCP scores. The implications of the above findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With the learning adaptability scale, 1108 college students have been investigated on their current learning adaptability. Variance analysis and independent sample test are also adopted to discuss the characteristics and influencing factors of the learning adaptability of college students. It is found that about one third of college students in China have problems in learning adaptability and the main problems are their bad learning attitude and poor environment adaptability, and that it makes no remarkable difference in general learning adaptability between only-child students and non-only-child students, liberal arts students and science students, male students and female students, but remarkable between students in different grades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to get the current status of bilingual teaching in higher education institute in the northeast of China. Survey was carried out among three groups of students: students from engineering related departments (Group 1), students from science related departments (Group 2), and students from arts related departments (Group 3). Results showed some positive aspects of bilingual teaching, such as high enthusiasm to bilingual teaching and high satisfaction rate to the course components. However, some problems related to bilingual teaching were also revealed such as relative poor English proficiency of students, lack of language environment and lack of good textbooks for bilingual education. Recommendations were provided with respect to bilingual teaching at university level in the northeast of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article describes the design and implementation of a business proposal module for final-year science students at a tertiary institution in Hong Kong. It is argued that in the needs analysis process, the present situation analysis (PSA), that is, personal information about the learners and factors which may affect their learning, is just as if not more important than, the target situation analysis (TSA), that is, professional information about the learners in terms of their future language requirements. The PSA aspect of the needs analysis was found to present several constraints impinging on the course design, which required compromises and adaptations to be made to how the course was originally envisaged. The module adopts the case-study approach which is advocated in the literature on EOP as it mirrors the activities and practices of a real-life business situation. The article describes how key teaching points (socio-pragmatic competence, the issue of ‘glocalisation’, communication with impression, genre conventions and interdisciplinarity, and usage errors) are addressed within the case-study approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The development and evaluation of science students' metacognition, learning processes and self-efficacy are important for improving science education. This paper reports on the development of an empirical self-report instrument for providing a measure of students' metacognition, self-efficacy and constructivist science learning processes. A review of the range of literature related to metacognition, self-regulation and constructivist learning processes resulted in the development of an initial bilingual (English and traditional Chinese) instrument composed of 72 items. This instrument was completed by 465 Hong Kong high school students. The data collected were subjected to exploratory factor analysis and Rasch analysis. The subsequent refinement process resulted in a final version of the Self-Efficacy and Metacognition Learning Inventory—Science (SEMLI-S) consisting of 30 items that can be used for either analysing and focusing on any or all of its dimensions or for assigning scores to individuals that enable comparison between them in relation to their metacognitive science learning orientations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hong Kong students outperform their counterparts in most other countries in mathematics in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study Repeat (TIMSS-R) project, while their science performance is marginally above the international average. In order to probe below the surface of these achievement results, secondary analysis of the TIMSS-R Hong Kong data was performed to identify factors that affect student achievement. Results of the secondary analysis relating to curriculum provision, teacher characteristics, and classroom conditions and climate are reported in this paper. Based on the results, some recommendations are proposed to meet the need for quality education in the new era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Draw-A-Scientist Test was administered to 675 Hong Kong Chinese students to explore their images of scientists. The main purposes were to discover any differences across grade levels and between male and female students, and to see if the results were comparable to those found in studies in other parts of the world. As in the findings of earlier research, there was evidence that students developed a more stereotypic image of a scientist with age and that the scientists drawn were predominantly male. It was also noted that some students, though a small percentage, included special captions and comments to express their views of the scientist. While the DAST is a feasible and simple method, future studies should supplement it with interviews for deeper understanding of students' constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have assessed the effects of specific instructional activities on students' science achievement outcomes. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of several different instructional activities using data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). A number of instructional activities were examined and variance estimation techniques for complex sampling designs were employed. Students included in this study were 6,031 students from Bong Kong who were included in the TIMSS Population 2 International Sample(13-year-olds). The results provide further understanding of specific instructional situations where cooperative learning appears to be related to students' science achievement. The findings from this study also identify several other instructional strategies that were related to the science achievement of students in Hong Kong and many of the relationships observed were consistent with previous research findings on instructional activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Astronomy is a very interesting subject for undergraduate students studying physics. In this paper, we report astronomy education for undergraduate students in the Physics Department of Guangzhou University, and how we are teaching astronomy to the students. Astrophysics has been rapidly developing since 1994, when the center for astrophysics was founded. Now, astrophysics has become a key subject in Guangdong Province, and the Astronomy Science and Technology Research Laboratory one of the key laboratories of the Department of Education of the Guangdong Province. Many undergraduate students, working under the tutorship of faculty members completed their thesis at the Center for Astrophysics in Guangzhou. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a study conducted by Lei Bao and colleagues which suggested that accumulating knowledge is not good enough. Researchers claimed that teaching and learning of content knowledge in physics at middle-and high-school level had little impact on the developing ability for scientific reasoning of students. It claimed that these findings were based on data collected from incoming first-year science and engineering university students in China and the U.S.

Nineteen top science students and four high school teachers in an American Association for the Advancement of Science delegation arrived in Beijing this month to find themselves at the center of a news media whirlwind. Nearly 900 science students, most of them still in high school, and nearly 350 teachers, researchers, and officials came from around the Pacific Rim to attend the event, which was hosted by China's Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, the China Association for Science and Technology, the Central Committee of the Chinese Youth League, and the city government of Beijing, China. The same goal prompted NSF to underwrite the U.S. delegation to Beijing and to earlier APEC science festivals in South Korea and Singapore, said Frances Li, a senior staff associate in NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering.