Many studies have characterized students' difficulties in understanding and reasoning about scientific mechanisms. Some of those studies have drawn implications on teaching mechanisms and how to guide students while reasoning mechanistically. In this theoretical article, I claim that one component that has not garnered much attention in the…

This manuscript presents a content analysis of 28 picture books from the Outstanding Science Trade Books recognized by the National Science Teachers Association in 2016. Drawing on the need for culturally relevant science instruction, the research investigated the portrayal of scientists in images (gender and racial background), the scientific…

This study assessed the (i) ways in which, and extent to which, several aspects of nature of science (NOS) are represented in high school biology and physics textbooks in the United States (U.S.); (ii) extent to which these representations have changed over the course of several decades; and (iii) relative impact of discipline, and textbook…

As the nation's K-12 classrooms become increasingly more racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse, it is incumbent upon the science community to seize opportunities to attend to the rhetoric of reform, namely to enhance scientific literacy for all students. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a framework, this study examined 112 nature of…

Researchers and practitioners alike express concerns about the conceptual difficulties associated with the concepts of momentum and kinetic energy currently taught in school physics. This article presents an in-depth analysis of the treatment given to them in 44 published textbooks written for UK secondary school certificate courses. This is set…

Science education models for secondary and college students as well as K-12 teachers have been dominated by classroom-based approaches. Recently, research apprenticeships wherein learners worked with practicing scientists on authentic scientific research have become increasingly popular. The purpose of this critical review of the literature was to…

This study assessed the representations of nature of science (NOS) in high school chemistry textbooks and the extent to which these representations have changed during the past four decades. Analyses focused on the empirical, tentative, inferential, creative, theory-driven, and social NOS, in addition to the myth of "The Scientific Method," the…

Criticizes the methods and assumptions of a study that attempted to determine a standard list of tenets for the Nature of Science via statistical sampling of members of the Philosophy of Science Association (PSA). Provides a taxonomy of philosophic issues and suggests some roles for philosophy of science in science teaching and science-teacher…