Pharmaceutical Integrated Experiment (PIE) is a systematic and comprehensive compulsory course for undergraduates majoring in pharmacy and pharmaceutical engineering. This course mainly focuses on integrating the theoretical knowledge of various disciplines into practice, enabling students to master the key processes of drug research and…

In this essay from a teacher in Argentina, Valeria Vincent describes how she employed Multiple Literacies in Project-based Learning (MLPBL) (Krajcik, Palincsar, and Miller 2015). ML-PBL, an open education free resource, has three design principles that support teacher and student learning and satisfaction. ML-PBL builds on teacher ingenuity and…

Applying physical principles is important for designs of various products with tailored performances. However, one of the long-standing issues of the students' design projects (or school's interdisciplinary projects) is the post-hoc imposition of the knowledge learned in their content subjects. This post-hoc imposition significantly diminishes the…

Imagine middle and high school science classes without a science fair. Participation in science fairs is declining (Harmon 2011), a trend that some teachers, parents, and students find disturbing. The authors opine that the decline in science fairs calls for critically reviewing the potential disconnect between the aims and outcomes of science…

A new trend in the field of teaching nowadays is context-based learning which is embedded with real life of learners; our education system is not an exception. This method will stimulate learners' inspiration towards school subjects, especially natural sciences domains because today's students tend to less interested into these fields. In this…

We present our Lunar Phases Project, an ongoing effort utilizing students' actual observations within a mental model building framework to improve student understanding of the causes and process of the lunar phases. We implement this project with a sample of undergraduate, nonscience major students enrolled in a midsized public university located…

In a contest featuring hands-on projects, college students were required to design a simple crawling worm using planning, self-monitoring and self-evaluation processes to solve contradictive problems. To enhance the efficiency of problem solving, one needs to practice meta-cognition based on an application of related scientific concepts. The…

Are students more engaged and do they perform better in science if their school encourages them to work on science projects, participate in science fairs, belong to a science-related club or go on science-related field trips--in addition to teaching them the mandatory science curriculum? To find out, PISA (Programme for International Student…

This paper describes research on the use of journals in a general education chemistry course for elementary education majors. In the journals, students describe their understanding of a topic, the development of that understanding, and how the topic connects to their lives. In the process, they are able to engage in reflection about several…

School science systems tend to emphasize teaching and learning about achievements of science (such as laws and theories) at the expense of providing students with opportunities to develop realistic conceptions about science and science inquiry and expertise they could use to conduct their own science inquiry projects. Among reasons for such an…

Using cultured fibroblast cells, undergraduate students explore cell division and the responses of cultured cells to a variety of environmental changes. The students learn new research techniques and carry out a self-designed experiment. Through this project, students enhance their creative approach to scientific inquiry, learn time-management and…

The MicroObservatory network of five online telescopes has been used by middle and high school students, their teachers, and the public in all 50 states to carry out a wide variety of inquiry-driven projects. From an analysis of 475 student projects and other data, we report substantial gains in students' conceptual understanding of what…

Computational science includes the use of computer-based modeling and simulation to define and test theories about scientific phenomena. The challenge for educators is to develop techniques for implementing computational science in the classroom. This paper reviews some previous work on the use of simulation alone (without modeling), modeling…

This qualitative study examined the role of discourse (verbal elements of language) and Discourse (nonverbal elements related to the use of language, such as ways of thinking, valuing, and using tools and technologies) in the process of group knowledge construction of mechanical engineering students. Data included interviews, participant…

Those who are most marginalized, both culturally and economically, in society are concentrated in the nation's largest urban centers and have the least opportunities to be successful in school science or to pursue higher education and career trajectories in science, mathematics, or engineering. This article shares the results of a study in which…