How Scientists are Portrayed in NSTA Recommends Books

If you use trade books or picture books in your science teaching, how do you choose which books to use with your students? How important is that decision? Do you rely on someone else to evaluate the books so you are assured of their appropriateness and quality? We used the Draw-A-Scientist Test Checklist to examine the illustrations, images, or photographs of scientists portrayed in picture books promoted for use in elementary and middle school classrooms by the National Science Teachers Association in their NSTA Recommends book lists for the last three years. Results revealed that there was much consistency in how scientists were portrayed in the books across the three years, but there were also issues with appropriate numbers of representations of minorities, women, and age of scientists.

A Comparison of Software Evaluation Forms and Reviews

Various evaluation forms and reviews used to evaluate instructional software are compared with regard to the criteria employed in their assessments, and the usefulness and appropriateness of these criteria for making instructional decisions are discussed. Among the evaluation forms considered are those developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the National Science Teachers Association, and the Software Evaluation Project at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Software awards such as those sponsored by Classroom Computer Learning and reviews by monthly publications such as Teaching and Computers and Classroom Computer Learning are also considered. Although certain criteria are represented on nearly all of the evaluation forms and reviews, other criteria appear on a more limited basis. Differences between evaluation forms and reviews are discussed, and limitations in current approaches to software evaluation are identified — e.g., concern for valid principles of learning and teaching.