The purpose of this study was to explore grade eight students' views in terms of different scientific reasoning progress levels. To explore students' views, phenomenographic study was used. The qualitative analysis of students' interviews elicited three major themes of students' views about scientific reasoning progress levels: naïve, mixed, and…

The present study examined to what extent inquiry-based investigation as an instructional approach associated with students' overall science achievement and achievement in cognitive domains, including knowing science facts, applying scientific principles, and reasoning with scientific concepts to solve problems. Using TIMSS 2007 science…

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of inquiry-based laboratory activities on the students' understanding of the nature of science (NOS) in learning lights and optics topic. The method used in this research is quasi experiment. Sampling technique using random sampling to class and the samples were taken from grade 8 in one of junior…

Anecdotal accounts from science educators suggest that few teachers are teaching science as inquiry. However, there is little empirical evidence to support this claim. This study aimed to provide evidence-based documentation of the state-of-use of inquiry-based instruction and explicit instruction about nature of science (NOS). We examined the…

Argumentation is highlighted as one of the most important activities of science education by many researchers. The main aim of this research is to examine primary school students' nature of science classes and argumentation skills in terms of their academic success in primary science classes. Thus, the main interest of the study is centered on the…

This seven to eight week hands-on Marine Debris Clean-up Project used a service project to provide an introduction of marine science ecology, watershed interrelationships, the scientific method, and environmental stewardship to 8th grade middle school students. It utilized inquiry based learning to introduce marine debris sources and impacts to…

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Video Study explored instructional practices in the United States (US) in comparison with other countries that ranked higher on the 1999 TIMSS assessment, and revealed that 8th grade science teachers in the US emphasize activities over content during lessons (Roth et al.…

Lunar Nautics is a hands-on curriculum targeted to youth in grades 6 to 8, that allows the students to design, test, analyze and manage a space mission from initial concept to project funding. Lunar Nautics provides opportunities for development of problem solving skills and critical thinking skills that are needed to design, organize and manage a…