We have investigated gender differences in performance over the past eight years on the Australian Science Olympiad Exam (ASOE) for physics,which is taken by nearly 1000 high school students each year. The ASOE, run by Australian Science Innovations (ASI), is the initial stage of the process of selection of teams to represent Australia at the…

"Thinking Science" is a 2-year program of professional development for teachers and thinking lessons for students in junior high school science classes. This paper presents research on the effects of "Thinking Science" on students' levels of cognition in Australia. The research is timely, with a general capability focused on…

In this study, we investigated the value of a concept map marking guide as an alternative formative assessment tool for science teachers to adopt for the topic of energy. Eight high school science teachers marked students' concept maps using an itemized holistic marking guide. Their marking was compared with the researchers' marking and the scores…

There is on-going international interest in the relationships between assessment instruments, students' understanding of science concepts and context-based curriculum approaches. This study extends earlier research showing that students can develop connections between contexts and concepts--called "fluid transitions"--when studying…

This article reviews how practical work, including practical skills, is currently summatively assessed in school science in a number of countries and makes comparisons with how other subjects, such as music and modern foreign languages, summatively assess skills. Whilst practical skills in school science are clearly valued as being of importance,…

There is extensive uptake of ICT in the teaching of science but more evidence is needed on how ICT impacts on the learning practice and the learning outcomes at the classroom level. In this study, a physics website ("Getsmart") was developed using the cognitive apprenticeship framework for students at a high school in Australia. This…

Outlines the aims of the IEA Science Project, an international study which investigated the relationships between science achievement and attitudes of students, and various home, student, school and teacher factors. Discusses the main results which illustrate the level of science education in Australia compared to other developed countries. (JR)

The level of meaning (membership, partial association, or generalization) that English-speaking (N=1635) and Hindi-speaking students (N=823) preferred when thinking about each of 16 key concept definitions associated with the theme "the nature of matter" was measured for each concept. Results and implications for science instruction are…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…