The primary objective of this research was to investigate the effects of model-based science instruction on the conceptual development of 7th grade students in the topic of electricity. This qualitative research was conducted during the 2022-2023 academic year, using purposive sampling method. The study comprised 33 7th grade students (18 boys and…

This paper presents the design and initial learning research with the MMM modeling platform, seeking to advance middle school students' learning through constructing computational models of complex physical and chemical systems. A complexity-based structure of an MMM interface is introduced. It suggests that a complex system can be described and…

Contextualised learning is required for learners to master successfully the 'big ideas' of science and to perceive the relevance of science education. Science curricula can either foster or impair teaching for contextualised learning depending on what science they plan to be taught and the way they recommend this to be done. This paper presents an…

This study has two aims. The first is to determine the effect of argumentation and epistemologically enriched argumentation on academic achievement. The second is to determine students' opinions about the effect of the integration of argumentation and epistemologically enriched argumentation into the teaching process on academic achievement. In…

This study aims to conduct a multidimensional analysis of the 2017 Science Curriculum taking the previous three curricula into account. The document analysis technique, which is a qualitative research method, was used. The Science curricula of 2000, 2005, 2013 and 2017 were analyzed in detail for this purpose. The 2017 Science Curriculum, which is…

For over a century, genetic arguments for the existence of racial inequality have been used to oppose policies that promote social equality. And, over that same time period, American biology textbooks have repeatedly discussed genetic differences between races. This experiment tests whether racial terminology in the biology curriculum causes…

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of an activity set developed according to the inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach in the unit "Particulate Structure of Matter" on students' critical-thinking skills in science and technology courses. The study was conducted with 90 students from the 6th grade attending four, 6th…

The purpose of this quantitative research study was to evaluate to what degree Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education influenced mathematics and science achievement of seventh grade students in one Middle Tennessee school district. This research used an independent samples t test at the a = 0.05 level to evaluate…

The aim of this research is to determine the effect of the different teaching methods, on seventh-grade students' academic achievement and scientific attitudes. The research was carried out using quasi-experimental methods. The research sample consisted of 84 seventh grade students studying in three different classes. One of these classes an…

The new science education reform documents call for integration of engineering into K-12 science classes. Engineering design and practices are new to most science teachers, meaning that implementing effective engineering instruction is likely to be challenging. This quasi-experimental study explored the influence of teacher-developed, engineering…

In response to continuing concerns about student attainment and participation in science and mathematics, the "epiSTEMe" project took a novel approach to pedagogy in these two disciplines. Using principles identified as effective in the research literature (and combining these in a fashion not previously attempted), the project developed…

The purpose of this study was to investigate Turkish primary students' scientific process skills under the theoretical framework of cognitive domain. The sample set consisted of 306 sixth and seventh grade students from public, private, and bussed schools. The Turkish Integrated Process Skill Test was used to measure scientific process skills, and…

We use a construct-based assessment approach to measure learning progression of energy concepts across physical, life, and earth science contexts in middle school grades. We model the knowledge integration construct in six levels in terms of the numbers of ideas and links used in student-generated explanations. For this study, we selected 10 items…

Low-income and minority students in the U.S. are disproportionately subjected to didactic, teacher-controlled instruction--a phenomenon called "the pedagogy of poverty" (Haberman, 1991). This study examined the role that curriculum-based interventions could play in addressing these equity issues in science education. Eight teachers from…

This study compared the efficacy of 3 approaches to professional development in middle school Earth science organized around the principles of Understanding by Design (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998) in a sample of 53 teachers from a large urban district. Teachers were randomly assigned to a control group or to 1 of 3 conditions that varied with…