In teaching sciences, models are often used to introduce, elaborate or simplify real-world phenomena or concepts. It is, however, often the case that misconceptions arise from or are facilitated by these teaching models during their transition to mental models of the individual learners. For instance, models are often seen as direct replicas of…

Teaching science concepts for conceptual understanding has its challenges. Bringing about conceptual change in the science classroom can be difficult because most concepts are complicated and often counter-intuitive in the teaching and learning of science concepts. A review of the literature indicates that the conceptual change model, CCM can be…

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the Common Knowledge Construction Model (CKCM) based instruction on 5th grade students' conceptual understanding of the "biodiversity" topic. The study is conducted with 74 fifth grade female students at middle school in the district of Usküdar, Istanbul. Semi-experimental method is…

The effectiveness of the 5E model has been supported by research in schools in recent years, although its efficacy has rarely been assessed in the long term to avoid novelty effects and to consider the impact of the usual loss of fidelity that time entails. This study was designed to assess the long-term effects on students' conceptual learning as…

This article argues that what is most at risk in schooling during a global pandemic, or other similar broad challenges to normal functioning, are those elements that might be considered the less traditional and so the most progressive. After setting out some general background common to the challenge faced by schools and school teachers, this…