Developing understanding of models and proficiency with modeling practice is challenging for both teachers and students. This 2-year study first investigated existing instructional strategies employed by teachers while teaching Earth and Space Science with dynamic physical models. Summer professional development introduced a conceptual framework,…

Student construction of models is a strong focus of current research and practice in science education. In order to study in detail the interactions between students' model generation and evaluation and their development of explanatory ideas to account for magnetic phenomena, a multi-session teaching experiment was conducted with a small number of…

This article is situated within a theoretical framework, "instructional congruence," articulating issues of student diversity with the demands of academic disciplines. In the context of a large-scale study targeting elementary school science, the article describes a research instrument that aims to combine the strengths of both quantitative and…

This study examines the process by which system thinking perceptions develop within the context of a water cycle curriculum. Four junior high school students undergoing an especially designed inquiry-based intervention were closely observed before, during, immediately after, and 6 years after completing a year long systems-based learning program.…

Discusses a study which examined the last factor of Piaget's model of intelligence-functioning. Sought to determine if empirical evidence could be formed to support the existence of assimilation, disequilibrium, accommodation, and organization in the learning of physics. Naturalistic data provided support for the Piagetian functioning model of…