In nature and the laboratory, caddisfly larvae of the genus Cheumatopsyche display aggressive behavior and spacing. It was proposed that their dispersal and subsequent patterns of dispersion would be directly related to density. In experiments at varying densities, in bowls with and without a central refuge of pebbles suitable for case construction, larvae dispersed uniformly in the absence of refuge. When numbers were high, aggressive encounters enforced spacing. In the presence of refuge, they aggregated in the clump of pebbles at all densities. When the refuge was filled to capacity, the excess larvae were forced into the periphery.
Several studies have shown that high school science teachers base their teaching on what professors of college freshman science expect, and that, in some instances, advanced high school courses are needlessly similar to college freshman courses. In order to gain insight of college science professors' expectations and perceptions on selected goals and outcomes of science education, a survey instrument was developed and mailed to 123 heads/coordinators of freshman chemistry in U.S. state and land grant colleges and universities that offer a graduate degree program in chemistry. The results demonstrated that although the coordinators were positive about many science education goals and outcomes they did not value aspects related to societal issues, and no differences among them existed when the results were analyzed according to demographic subgroups such as age and teaching experience. They perceived high school graduates as possessing inadequate skills and perceived measures to improve precollege science education requiring collaboration of precollege and college faculty positively. The implications for science education were that college chemistry professors place values different from those of science educators on some pertinent goals and outcomes of science teaching, a situation that is not helpful to reforming precollege science education.
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