Young children are familiar with astronomical phenomena from everyday life, such as the movement of the celestial bodies or the shift from day to night. The present study examines the extent to which kindergarten students understand abstract concepts related to celestial bodies and processes (such as gravity and time), and whether they change…

This article addresses a unique program involving international collaboration between gifted students from Israel and Croatia. The COVID-19 pandemic opened an opportunity for effective synchronous communication that enabled an unmediated connection between the participants. During the program the children researched the moon from various aspects:…

The goal of the research was to examine the contribution of learning strategies as a mediator for motivation and a sense of achievement in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), among students who participate in a unique program in Israel, called "Academy Online--MOOCs in the Israeli Education System." The goal of the program was to…

Richard Hechter and Nayif Awad wrote this article from opposite sides of the Earth and are getting ready to meet again in December 2017 to continue their project of bringing the world together through physics education, one constellation at a time. With the events in France, Belgium, Germany, United States, and United Kingdom fresh in their minds,…

Considerable debate exists among discipline-based astronomy education researchers about how students change their perceptions in science and astronomy. The study questioned the development of astronomical models among students in institutions of higher education by examining how college students change their initial conceptual frameworks and…

Context-based approaches can bridge the gap between abstract, difficult science concepts and the world students live in. However, the relevance of specific contexts to different groups of learners, and its stability over time, have not been extensively explored. This study used four datasets, collected in different formal and informal settings, to…

Empirical studies have reported difficulties, confusion, and lack of understanding among students at all levels of instruction regarding the issue of weight--gravitation--weighing relationships. This study examined the impact of a new conceptual framework of weight, on a small group of 7th-grade students (N?=?14) in a middle school in Israel. This…