Improving science instruction.

Science Teacher, The, December, 2005 by Long, Steven

"Most people in this country lack the basic understanding of science that they need to make informed decisions about the many scientific issues affecting their lives" (Singer, Hilton, and Schwiengruber 2005a, p. ES-1). This statement from the National Research Council's (NRC) America's Lab Report: Investigations in High School Science is a disturbing--but true--picture of science instruction in the United States. The report outlines seven conclusions, five of which I list here (Singer, Hilton, and Schwiengruber 2005a, pp. ES 1-7):

* Researchers and educators do not agree on how to define high school science laboratories or their purposes ... Gaps in the research and in capturing the knowledge of expert science teachers make it difficult to reach precise...

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