Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the potential effects of problem-based learning (PBL), predict observe explain (POE), and PBLPOE on students' problem-solving skills and self-efficacy in Biology. This research is based on various facts that problem-solving skills and self-efficacy of Indonesian students in biology subjects are still low.…

Researchers, evaluators, and practitioners need tools to distinguish between applications of technology that support, enhance, and transform classroom instruction and those that are ineffective or even deleterious. Here we present a new classroom observation protocol designed specifically to capture the quality of technology use to support science…

Since 2013, a majority of states have been working to implement new standards for K-12 science education that are based on the National Research Council's framework for science education and the Next Generation Science Standards. The new science standards emphasize deeper understanding of content in relation to practices and a three-dimensional…

Inquiry-style laboratory courses, in which students engage in open-ended projects rather than a prescribed set of experimental steps ("cookbooks"), are becoming increasingly popular at the undergraduate level. Reformed curricula require reforms in training teachers; in the case of large universities, laboratory instructors are typically…

This study aims at determining the effect of the pedagogical technique most frequently used while implementing the competency-based curriculum (CBC) in teaching chemistry in senior two (S2) classes (age range 14-16) and the teachers' alignment with the scheme of work. It was conducted in 10 selected Rwandan secondary schools using a teacher…

Responsive instruction--or instruction that foregrounds and takes up the disciplinary substance of student thinking--is both a hallmark of recent STEM education reforms and challenging to enact. This kind of instruction may be especially challenging in instructional contexts that mandate or rely on curriculum with set, structured learning…

Models are central to the practice and teaching of science. Yet people often fail to grasp how scientific models explain their observations of the world. Realizing the explanatory power of a model may require aligning its relational structure to that of the observable phenomena. The present research tested whether "relational…

This article presents the results of an exploratory study of students' knowledge about scientists and countries' contributions to science, aiming at answering two research questions: "In which ways are students aware of the history of scientific development carried out by different people in different places of the world? What can be…

Over the course of six years, a diverse group of school districts and charter management organizations in California ran a substantial experiment in implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in elementary and middle grades. WestEd led an extensive evaluation of that effort, the California K-8 NGSS Early Implementers Initiative,…

This study investigates the effect of the science writing heuristic (SWH) approach on the quality of prospective science teachers' (PSTs) argumentative writing and their understanding of the components of argumentation in the SWH approach and their own learning. Ten SWH approach activities were implemented during the semester. The study was…

In this study, we present the long-term influence of an after school science practicum associated with an elementary science methods course. The practicum or field experience could be considered a community-based service learning programme as it is situated both within and for the community. Study participants included eight third- and fifth-grade…

The purpose of this study was to assess and determine impacts of insufficient instructional materials and ineffective lesson delivery methods on teaching in biology higher education. The participants of this study were 60 trainees who graduated in Bachelor of Sciences from eight public universities in majoring biology. Data for the study was…

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of an intervention on pre-service science teachers' self-efficacy to teach science through argumentation and explore the challenges they experienced while implementing argumentation. Forty pre-service science teachers in their final semester of schooling participated in an intervention that…

We present a newly validated and refined framework, TA-PIVOT (TA Practices In and Views Of Teaching), for examining how physics TAs talk about and how they engage in physics teaching. This work builds upon and extends prior efforts to characterize instructors' beliefs and practices by examining both domains in parallel. We present the…

The inclusion of engineering practices poses a challenge for many science teachers trying to meet the expectations of the Next Generation Science Standards because they lack formal training in engineering. This, however, may provide an opportunity for science teacher educators striving to improve the use of learner-centered teaching practices by…