The need to develop clean-energy storage systems, harvesting technologies, and new functional materials are but a few of the many contemporary challenges in the domain of science today. To address these challenges, problem solving has become a key skill of the 21st century. It is generally documented, however, that experts and students differ in…

Developing scientific reasoning (SR) is a central goal of science-teacher education worldwide. On a fine-grained level, SR competency can be subdivided into at least six skills: "formulating research questions," "generating hypotheses," "planning experiments," "observing and measuring," "preparing data…

This paper describes the second in a series of studies exploring the acceptance of the subatomic structure of matter by 12-year-olds. The studies focus on a novel learning unit introducing an atomic model from electrons down to quarks, which is aimed to be used at an early stage in the physics curriculum. Three features are fundamental to the…

In 2000, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study was conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It is a worldwide study of 15-year-old students' performance in mathematics, science and reading skills. The study showed relatively poor results for German students' scientific literacy…

This paper revisits the discussion about the objectives of scientific literacy-oriented chemistry teaching, its connection to the German concept of "Allgemeinbildung", and the debate of "science through education" vs. "education through science". About 10 years ago the sociocritical and problem-oriented approach to…

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Conference on Education and New Developments 2015-END 2015, taking place in Porto, Portugal, from 27 to 29 of June. Education, in our contemporary world, is a right since we are born. Every experience has a formative effect on the constitution of the human being, in the way one thinks, feels and…

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…