what are the recent researches concerning science instruction in the secondary schools?

There is substantial inquiry in regard to science education in the US. Most longitudinal studies seem to indicate that high school graduates are not competitive with other countries in the area of science and mathematics. This has stimulated some serious and directed studies into why this is occurring.

First, the information presented must be balanced with key conceptual themes that are learned in some depth. Second, the rigid disciplinary boundaries of earth science, biology, chemistry, and physics should be softened; greater emphasis should also be placed on connections among the sciences and among disciplines generally thought of as outside of school science, such as technology, mathematics, ethics, and social studies (Confrey, 1990; Newmann, 1988).

It is felt that students need to know more than rote memorization of terms and procedures, but rather need to be able to apply what they learn with hands-on experiments and field work.