There is a dearth of information about how students with visual impairments learn science-process skills. The study presented here investigated students' concepts and skills in one science area: the estimation of measurements. The estimation of measurements is one of the fundamental concepts that connects all science disciplines that provide the necessary skills to understand the natural world (National Research Council, 1996; Roth & Roychoudhury, 1993) and is an instructional goal at every grade level of the Mathematics Standards (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000). Estimating is as important in the science laboratory as it is in real-world environments. In the laboratory, students are asked to make measurements using tools, such as rulers, balances, and beakers, all of which typically rely on visual perception. Although adaptive technologies are available to a small sample of students, these tools are not universally available for those who need them in mainstream classes (Jones, Taylor, & Broadwell, 2009a). The purpose of this study was to document the reported experiences of students with visual impairments with estimating measurements, as well as the students' conceptualizations of linear distances and accurate estimations.

The main purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of multiple intelligences theory based instruction (MITBI) and traditional science instruction (TSI) on 9th grade students&amp / #8217 / understanding of chemical bonding concept and attitudes toward chemistry. In the study, 50 ninth grade students from two classes of Gen&ccedil / Osman high school in Ankara were used. 25 of the students were assigned as experimental group and the other 25 as control group. They were instructed by the same teacher. The study was conducted during May of 2005. The groups were selected from eight 9th grade classes of Gen&ccedil / Osman High School randomly. The students are at the ages between 14 and 16. The group which was assigned as experimental group was instructed by multiple intelligences theory based instruction (MITBI) whereas the other group was traditionally instructed. This experimental study took a period of three weeks. To determine the effectives of multiple intelligences based instruction over traditional science instruction, an achievement test about chemical bonding concept which consisted of 25 items were administered and an attitude scale toward chemistry developed by Geban et al., was applied. Science Process Skill Test was administered to investigate the relationship between the students&amp / #8217 / science process skills and their achievement. For the statistical analysis, t-test, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used. The results showed that students who were instructed by multiple intelligences theory based instruction were achieved higher than the ones which were instructed by the traditional science instruction about chemical bonding concept. There was also a significant difference between the students instructed with Multiple Intelligences Theory Based Instruction (MITBI) and the students instructed with traditional science instruction (TSI) with respect to the attitudes of students toward chemistry. There was no significant difference between the attitudes and achievement of female students and that of male students. Students&amp / #8217 / science process skills had no greater contribution to their success.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of conceptual change text oriented instruction accompanied with analogies over traditionally designed chemistry instruction on overcoming 10th grade students&rsquo / misconceptions, their understanding of rate of reaction concepts and their attitude towards chemistry as a school subject. 42 tenth grade students from two classes of a chemistry course taught by the same teacher at a public high school in &Ccedil / anakkale involved in the study. The study was carried out in Spring Semester of 2005-2006 Education Year. Two groups of students participated in the study. One group was called Experimental Group and instructed with conceptual change texts oriented instruction accompanied with analogies and the other group was called Control Group and was instructed with traditionally designed chemistry instruction over a period of four weeks. To investigate the effectiveness of the treatment, Rate of Reaction Concepts Test and Attitude Scale Towards Chemistry as a school subject were administered to both groups of students at the beginning and at the end of the treatment period. To evaluate students&rsquo / science process skills, Science Process Skills Test was administered to both groups of students before the treatment. MANCOVA was used to test the hypothesis of the study. The results of the study indicated that students instructed with conceptual change texts oriented instruction accompanied with analogies gained higher average scores in Rate of Reaction Concepts Test than the students instructed with traditionally designed chemistry instruction. Results and strategies that were developed for the present study may be used by science teachers to reduce and eliminate students&rsquo / misconceptions about rate of reaction concepts.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of constructivist instruction on the achievement, attitude towards science teaching, science process skills and retention of fourth grade preservice science teachers in Science Teaching Methods II course. Two groups (one experimental and one control) were assigned from Hacettepe University Faculty of Education Department of Science Education. Experimental group consisted of 53 preservice science teachers and the control group consisted of 50 preservice science teachers / totally 103 preservice science teachers participated in this study. Quasi experimental research design was used in this study. Constructivist instruction was used in experimental group and traditional instruction was used in control group during the teaching and learning process. This research study was conducted in fall semester of the 2007-2008 academic year and lasted 15 weeks including the final examination term. Science Process Skills Test, Attitude towards Science Teaching Scale and Achievement Test in Science Teaching Methods II course were administered to participants three times / at the beginning of the study, immediately after the implementation process and 10 weeks later. A mixed between within ANOVA with repeated measures was used as a statistical technique for analyzing quantitative data and both descriptive and content analysis was used for analyzing questionnaire, formative and summative focus group interviews. Statistical mean difference was obtained for all tests in favor of experimental group and the findings of quantitative data analysis results were supported by the qualitative data analysis results. After interpreting the results, it can be claimed that constructivist instruction is effective in preservice science education.

The main purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of conceptual change oriented instruction accompanied with computer animations and traditionally designed chemistry instruction on 10th grade students&rsquo / understanding, achievement and retention of gases concepts and attitudes towards chemistry as a school subject. Also students&rsquo / views about nature of science were investigated. Quasi experimental design was used in this study. 67 tenth grade students from two intact classes of a chemistry course taught by the same teacher in Sokullu High School were enrolled. The hypotheses were tested by using analyses of covariance and two- way analyses of variance. The results indicated that instruction based on conceptual change approach caused significantly better acquisition of the scientific conceptions, achievement and retention related to gases concepts than traditionally designed chemistry instruction. Science process skill was determined as a strong predictor in the concepts related to gases. Moreover instruction based on conceptual change approach improved students&rsquo / attitudes as a school subject. However no significant effect of gender difference on students&rsquo / understanding, achievement and attitudes toward chemistry as a school subject was found. Finally experimental group students&rsquo / views about some characteristics of nature of science were determined as more realistic than control group students.

ABSTRACT EFFECTS OF 7E LEARNING CYCLE MODEL ACCOMPANIED WITH COMPUTER ANIMATIONS ON UNDERSTANDING OF DIFFUSION AND OSMOSIS CONCEPTS B&uuml / lb&uuml / l, Yeter Ph. D., Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education Supervisor: Prof. Dr. &Ouml / mer Geban August 2010, 232 pages The main purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of the instruction based on 7E learning cycle model accompanied with computer animations and traditionally designed biology instruction on 9th grade students&rsquo / understanding and achievement related to diffusion and osmosis concepts and their attitudes toward biology as a school subject. Quasi experimental design was used in this study. A total number of 66 ninth grade students from four intact classes of a biology course taught by the same biology teacher in a private high school in Istanbul were enrolled. The study was conducted during spring semester of 2008-2009 academic year. This study included two experimental and two control groups. Experimental and control groups were randomly assigned. The students in the control group were instructed with traditionally designed biology instruction, while the students in the experimental group were instructed with 7E learning cycle model based instruction accompanied with computer animations. In the experimental group, students were taught with respect to the sequence of 7E learning cycle model which are elicit, engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate, and extend through the use of activities such as demonstration, computer animations, laboratory activities, and discussions. In the control group, traditionally designed biology instruction was implemented through the teacher explanation, demonstrations, and use of textbook. Diffusion and Osmosis Diagnostic Test (DODT), Diffusion and Osmosis Achievement Test (DOACH), Attitude Scale Toward Biology (ASTB) were administered to both groups as a pre-test and post-test to assess students&rsquo / understanding and achievement of diffusion and osmosis concepts, and students&rsquo / attitudes toward biology respectively. Science Process Skill Test (SPST) was given at the beginning of the study to determine students&rsquo / science process skills. Moreover classroom observations were conducted. The hypotheses were tested by using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results indicated that instruction based on 7E learning cycle model accompanied with computer animations caused significantly better acquisition of the scientific conceptions related to diffusion and osmosis concepts than traditionally designed biology instruction. Science process skill was determined as a strong predictor in the concepts related to diffusion and osmosis. Moreover instruction based on 7E learning cycle model accompanied with computer animations was more effective for improvement of students&rsquo / attitudes as a school subject. However no significant effect of gender difference on students&rsquo / understanding, achievement, and attitudes toward biology as a school subject was found.

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of context based instruction over traditionally designed chemistry instruction on 9th grade students&rsquo / understanding of cleaning materials topic and their attitudes toward environment. Moreover students&rsquo / science process skills were measured for using as a covariate. Participants were 222 ninth grade students from eight classes in two different types of high schools in Ankara. Experimental group students were instructed with context based instruction and control group students were instructed with traditionally designed instruction through five weeks. Cleaning Materials Achievement Test and Attitudes toward Environment Scale were used as pre and post tests. Science Process Skills test was used only as a pretest. MANCOVA technique was used as a statistical analysis procedure. According to statistical analyses, there was a significant mean difference with respect to context based instruction and traditionally designed instruction on cleaning materials topic in favor of experimental group and no significant difference with respect to attitude toward environment. There was no significant mean difference with respect to school type in both Cleaning Materials Achievement Test scores and Attitude toward Environment Scale scores. Beside, science process skills were a strong predictor for understanding the cleaning materials topic. Four focus groups were conducted separately regarding the students&rsquo / career choices after the treatment to have an idea over the quality of the instruction in experimental group. Focus group results revealed that students were appreciated and more motivated with context based instructional design.

The main purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of conceptual change oriented instruction accompanied with cooperative group work and traditionally designed instruction for removing misconceptions related to acid-base concepts. In this study 33 tenth grade students from two classes from METU Development Foundation Private School in the spring semester of 2003-2004 participated. There were two groups in the study. Students in experimental group received conceptual change oriented instruction with cooperative group work, and students in control group received traditionally designed instruction over a period of six weeks. Acid-Base Concept Test was administered to both groups as pre- and post-test. Students were also received Science Process Skill Test to determine their science process skills as pre-test and Attitude Scale Toward Chemistry to measure their attitudes toward chemistry as pre- and post-test. The hypotheses were tested by t-test, ANCOVA, and ANOVA. The results showed that the students in experimental group had significantly higher scores with respect to achievement related to acid-base concepts than the students in control group. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between attitude mean scores of students in experimental and control groups. Also, science process skill was a strong predictor for the achievement related to acid-base concepts. Alternatively, there was no significant difference between girls and boys in terms of understanding of acid-base concepts and attitudes toward chemistry. Alternatively, there was no significant interaction between gender and treatment on understanding of acid-base concepts and attitudes toward chemistry.

The main purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of the conceptual change oriented instruction through demonstration and traditionally designed chemistry instruction on 10th grade students&rsquo / understanding of chemical reactions and energy concepts and attitudes towards chemistry as a school subject. In this study, 61 tenth grade students from two classes of chemistry course instructed by same teacher from Atat&uuml / rk Anatolian High School took part. The study was conducted during 2003-2004 fall semester. This study included two groups which were selected randomly throughout 9 classes. One of the group was defined as control group in which students were taught by traditionally designed chemistry instruction, while the other group defined as experimental group in which students were instructed by conceptual change oriented instruction through demonstrations (CCID). Chemical Reactions and Energy Concepts Test and Attitude Scale toward Chemistry were administered to both groups as a pre-test and post-test to assess the students understanding of chemical reactions and energy concepts and students&rsquo / attitudes toward chemistry, respectively. Science Process Skills Test was given at the beginning of the study to determine students&rsquo / science process skills. The hypotheses were tested by using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that CCID caused significantly better acquisition of the scientific conceptions related to chemical reactions and energy concepts than TDCI. The results showed that there was a significant difference between post-test mean scores of students taught with CCID and those taught with TDCI with respect to their attitude toward chemistry as a school subject. A Science process skill was determined as a strong predictor in understanding the concepts related chemical reactions and energy.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the undergraduate biology practical instructions and the level of competence of undergraduate biology students in practical laboratory skills in some Ethiopian universities using skill performance rubric and questionnaires. A sample of 208 third year students and 26 instructors and laboratory assistants from three universities were selected as sample of the study. Students reported that more than 84.2% of the laboratory activities are below the average number of laboratory activities recommended by the curriculum with no significant difference between universities. The laboratory skill performance test score was below the midpoint. None of the students could be able to estimate and determine fields of vision of a microscope. There is a significant and a positively linear relationship between the students’ grade point average (GPA) with identification of laboratory equipment, handling of microscope, setting of microscope, estimation of diameter of field of vision and measuring liquid. Laboratory skill performance test score is correlated with higher education entrance exam score but not with students’ high school laboratory back ground. There is no significant difference in instructor’s manipulative skills among universities (p ≥ 0.09) and instructors manipulative skills is neither correlated with qualification nor teaching experience (P≥0.056). The most common method of assessment instructors’ use in the laboratory is laboratory report and identification of specimen examination (46.4%) and written exam and identification of specimen examination (35.7%). The number of courses having laboratory manuals is as low as 14.3%, in the new university. Manipulating materials, measuring and using numbers, and pre lab activity were common activities, and were found in every manual and in every university. Moreover, the result also revealed that the manuals contain high percentage rate of basic science process skills (75.4%) as compared to the integrated science process skills (24.6%). Correlation and multiple regression analyses revealed that students’ laboratory performance skills is significantly positively correlated with higher education entrance exam score, availability of laboratory resources and instructors experiences. Instructors’ experience has significant positive regression weights. / Life and Consumer Sciences / D. Phil. (Mathematics, Science and Technology Education)