Socio-scientific issues (SSI) instruction positions the understanding and practice of science in the context of issues that are informed by science but require reasoning about their societal dimensions to respond to those issues effectively. For this reason, instruction in the context of SSI has been considered the gateway to contemporary visions…

Why should our life science colleagues adopt, adapt, and implement fractal thinking into their research and teaching paradigms? While numerous articles and books have been written about the utility, power, and insight that can be gained by using fractal analysis of data and developing fractal models, other than just appreciating the beauty of…

The reconstruction of two-dimensional (2D) slices to three-dimensional (3D) digital anatomical models requires technical skills and software that are becoming increasingly important to the modern anatomist, but these skills are rarely taught in undergraduate science classrooms. Furthermore, learning opportunities that allow students to…

Teaching upper division statistical physics can often be clouded by the theory and complex examples used. To better help students appreciate the fundamental statistical concepts and how they are connected to thermodynamic principles this paper suggests using a simple abstract model. Using Atkins' Model students can see these ideas clearly…

A symmetry activity using student-built models was developed in line with faculty-developed pedagogical goals and a collaborative learning framework. The activity took place in a 3-h laboratory portion of an upper-division inorganic chemistry course. It required students to identify symmetry elements for seven molecules using common 2D…

The analysis of functional groups in organic compounds and inorganic ions in salts is a laboratory experiment that forms an inevitable part of the undergraduate chemistry curriculum in the science field all over the world. With this experiment, the student learns the testing techniques for the chemicals and gets a true sense of the importance of…

Science is the activity of studying the natural world in various ways to construct theories and models to explain phenomena. Windschitl et al. reported that model-based inquiry includes the connection between observable aspects of the target phenomenon and conjectured underlying causal processes. In addition, they insisted that learners are…

Modeling is a core practice in science and is a meaningful way to learn the subject. This article introduces a modeling-based approach that highlights the idea that modeling is an iterative process and integrates the fundamental parts of scientists' work and key suggestions for teaching through modeling. The lesson "The Structure and Function…

In this paper, we reflect on Luisa Marco-Bujosa's paper, "Soul searching in teaching science for social justice: an exploration of critical events through the lens of intersectionality." Our goal is to offer the reader a deeper understanding of the principles and epistemologies of Afrocentric schooling that were foundational to Faith's…

In introductory electric circuits in middle school, students often carry strongly held alternative conceptions. Common to many of these is an idea of electric current as some kind of substance that originates from the battery and moves toward electronic components. Learners often argue that current influences those one by one as they are…

The subject of mathematics is important for many other subjects, including physics. The questions we ask in physics often need a mathematical translation to be graphically interpreted and transformed. Students learn physics when interacting with physical questions; questions from physics also give insights and discoveries in mathematical problems.…

In this part we introduce the Smart Dreamcatcher (SD) network, a visualization of the Microcosmos. The SD-network is a geometrical structure (3-uniform hypergraph) which allows a comprehensible explanation of quantitative characteristics of hadron particles at the level of elaboration by physics of 1970's-80's. The elementary particles correspond…

This article considers starting with an existing SIMIODE modeling scenario [Winkel, B. (2015). 1-031-CoolIt-ModelingScenario. SIMIODE (Version 2.0). "QUBES Educational Resources." https://doi.org/10.25334/3WG8-EC31] that develops Newton's law of cooling by considering data on the cooling of a beaker of water in a room, and expanding upon…

In educational research, there is the general trade-off that empirical evidence should be generalizable to be applicable across contexts; at the same time, empirical evidence should be as specific as possible to be localizable in subject-specific educational interventions to successfully transfer the empirical evidence to educational practice.…

The topic of the seasons is covered in both primary and secondary schools in Australia. It may be difficult for some students to comprehend how the Sun alters its position throughout the year. This article shows how to calculate the changing rising and setting positions of the Sun for one's locality and the extremes of its elevation near noon over…