This volume includes articles based on papers presented at the Second International Conference of the European Science Education Research Association (E.S.E.R.A.) held in Kiel, August 31 to September 4, 1999. About 300 colleagues, virtually from around the world - with a particular European focus - participated. Some 200 papers were presented. Three pages synopses of these papers were published in Proceedings of the conference (edited by Michael Komorek, Helga Behrendt, Helmut Dahncke, Reinders Duit, Wolfgang Gräber and Angela Kross). They are available from the IPN homepage: ipn.uni-kiel.de. The participants were asked to submit contributions to the present volume. It contains the invited plenary lectures and a selection of the submitted contributions based on reviews by an international board and the editors. The volume mirrors main lines of research in science education in Europe and around the world. The invited lectures provide overviews of the growth of science education research from the past to the present, including views of future developments. Major emphasis of empirical research still seems to be students' conceptions and conceptual change. About half of the contributions fall into that category. In addition, most of the remaining contributions deal with various cognitive issues of teaching and learning science. It was surprising for us that the number of studies on affective issues and gender differences was much smaller than expected.

Preface. Part 1: Views and Visions of Science Education Research. Science Education Researchers and Research in Transition: Issues and Policies; D. Psillos. Research in Science Education in Europe: Retrospect and Prospect; E.W. Jenkins. Science Content as Problematic - Issues for Research; P.J. Fensham. Science Education Versus Science in the Academy: Questions - Discussion - Perspectives; H. Dahncke, et al. Part 2: Scientific Literacy - Conceptions and Assessment. The Assessment of Scientific Literacy in the OECD/PISA Project; W. Harlen , et al. Scientific Literacy: From Theory to Practice; W. Gräber, et al. Making Formative Use of a National Summative Assessment Regime; T.J. Russell, L. McGuigan. A Comparison of STS-Teaching and Traditional Physics Lessons - On the Correlation of Physics Knowledge and Taking Action; H. Dahncke, et al. Part 3: Students' Conceptions. On the Quantum Thinking of Physics Undergraduates; G. Ireson. Experiences with a Modern Course in Quantum Physics; G. Pospiech. Learning Process Studies in the Field of Fractals; M. Komorek, et al. Students' Understandings of their Internal Structure as Revealed by Drawings; M.J. Reiss, S.D. Tunnicliffe. Personal Context and Continuity of Human Thought; Recurrent Themes in a Longitudinal Study of Pupils' Understanding of Scientific Phenomena; G. Helldén. Entities of the World and Causality in Children's Thinking; V. Spiliotopoulou, P. Alevizos. Using Media Reports of Science Research in Pupils' Evaluation of Evidence; M. Ratcliffe, P. Fullick. Pupils' Perceptions of Science Education at Primary and Secondary School; B. Campbell. Part 4: Teachers' Conceptions. Teacher Professionalism and Change: Developing aProfessional Self Through Reflective Assessment; M. Lang. Formative Assessment Using Concept Cartoons: Initial Teacher Training in the UK; B. Keogh, et al. Teaching Chemical Equilibrium in Australian and German Senior High Schools; D.F. Treagust, W. Gräber. The Ideas of Spanish Primary Teachers about How to Develop an Understanding of Processes in Science and their Support in Textbooks; S. García-Barros, et al. Pre-service Elementary Teachers Constructing the Nature and Language of Science; J.A. Craven, et al. Combining Knowledge of Physics and Chemistry in Teaching: The Behaviour of a Narrow Jet of Water in the Presence of Charged Insulators; L. Kyyrönen, M. Ahtee. Intuitive Rules: A Theory and Its Implications to Mathematics and Science Teacher Education; P. Tsamir, et al. Part 5: Conceptual Change &endash; Teaching and Learning Processes. Conceptual Change Research and the Teaching of Science; S. Vosniadou. Rhetoric and Science Education; I. Martins, et al. Development of Complexity through Dealing with Physical Qualities: One Type of Conceptual Change? S. von Aufschnaiter. On the Micro-Structure of Analogical Reasoning: The Case of Understanding Chaotic Systems; J. Wilbers, R. Duit. Role-playing, Conceptual Change, and the Learning Process: A Case Study of 7th Grade Pupils; P.-L. Lehtelä. Concept Mapping as a Tool for Research in Science Education; H. Fischler, et al. The Need for and the Role of Metacognition in Teaching and Learning the Particle Model; P. Buck, et al. Evolving Mental Models of Electric Circuits; M.S. Steinberg, J.J. Clement. Two Models for a Physical Situation: the Case of Optics. Students' Difficulties, Teachers' viewpoints and Guidelines for a `Didactic Structure'; P.