Abstract
In the teaching of school science, curriculum material and instructional strategies ideally should be tailored to the abilities and aptitudes of different types of learners. The overall objective should be to create learning environments which allow students to interact physically and intellectually with instructional materials through 'hands-on' experimentation and 'minds-on' reflection. Effort should be made to provide materials and instruction that give reality and concreteness to scientific concepts. Ideally, teachers should use a variety of instructional strategies and learning materials with the aim of increasing the impact and the effectiveness of their teaching (Tobin, Carie & Bettencourt 1988; Hofstein & Walberg 1994 ). The importance of varying instructional techniques has been investigated recently (Hofstein & Kempa 1985; Kempa & Diaz 1990a, 19906). It is suggested that a strong relationship exists between a student's motivational characteristics and his or her preference for particular modes of instruction. This finding is important and should be taken into consideration in the design and implementation of instructional techniques and content. In practice, it is difficult to respond appropriately to students' motivational characteristics and preferred modes of instruction. Informal science learning environments ( e.g., science museums, zoos and outdoor settings; science youth programs; science media) could be utilized to maximize this end. Therefore, it would be useful if science educators would consciously utilize ( 1) a wide repertoire of instructional strategies in their work with learners in schools, as well as (2) a wide range of outofschool environments which foster science learning.
