The shift in science education toward deeper, more integrated learning of domain content and scientific practices requires that teachers steer clear of strategies that promote the steady accumulation of more superficial knowledge and capabilities. Instead, teachers must invest in a continuous and gradual process of long-term growth in students'…

Instructional tasks are key features of classroom practice, but little is known about how different components of tasks--such as selecting or designing tasks for a lesson, launching, and implementing them with students--shape the conditions for students' intellectual engagement in science classrooms. Employing a qualitative multiple case study…

Few research studies in science education have looked at how stories, proverbs, and anecdotes can be used as scaffolds for learning. Stories, proverbs, and anecdotes are cultural tools used in indigenous communities to teach children about their environment. The study draws on Bruner's work and the theory of border crossing to argue that stories,…

Current science education research and policy highlight the need to conceptualize scientific disciplines not only based on a view of "science-as-knowledge" but also on a perspective of "science-as-practice," placing an emphasis on practices such as explanation, argumentation, modeling, and communication. However, classroom…

Many new science teachers are assigned to teach subjects in which they have not been prepared, a practice referred to as out-of-field (OOF) teaching. Teaching OOF has been shown to negatively influence instruction and constrain teachers' development. In this study, we explored the extent to which new secondary science teachers were assigned OOF…

Understanding how geologists conduct fieldwork through analysis of problem solving has significant potential impact on field instruction methods within geology and other science fields. Recent work has highlighted many aspects of fieldwork, but the problem solving behaviors displayed by geologists during fieldwork and the associated cognitive…

This investigation explores the effectiveness of a teacher preparation program aligned with situated learning theory on preservice science teachers' use of technology during their student teaching experiences. Participants included 26 preservice science teachers enrolled in a 2-year Master of Teaching program. A specific program goal was to…

Focusing on a group of African American third graders who attend a high-poverty urban school, I explore the structure-agency dialectic within contested spaces situated in a dialogically oriented science classroom. Contested spaces entail the moments in which the students challenge each other's and their teacher's science ideas and, in the process,…

The connection between the molecular-level structure of a substance and its macroscopic properties is a fundamental concept in chemistry. Students in college-level general and organic chemistry courses were interviewed to investigate how they used structure-property relationships to predict properties such as melting and boiling points. Although…

In this study, we examined opportunities for reasoning and meaning making that read-alouds of children's literature science information books and related hands-on explorations offered to young Latina/o students in an urban public school. Using a qualitative, interpretative framework, we analyzed classroom discourse and children's writing…

This study documents how an urban high school science teacher engaged her English Language Learners (ELLs) in the discourse-intensive science and engineering practices of (1) arguing from evidence and (2) obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. The teacher taught an introductory integrated science course to classes with a large…

Set in the context of today's globalized approaches to curriculum reform, the purpose of this study was to compare the teaching and learning of science in Chinese and Australian Grade 6 classrooms. A conceptual framework based on notions of culture and socioeconomic status informed the research design. Case study participants were three teachers…

This study investigated the effectiveness of a web-based learning environment in enhancing 10th grade high-school students' understanding of the concept of "chemical bonding". Two groups participated in this study: an experimental group (N = 161) and a comparison one (N = 93). The teachers in the experimental group were asked to implement four…

This study examined how the National Board Certification (NBC) process, especially the portfolio creation, influenced candidate teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). In a larger sense, this study aimed to construct a better understanding of how teachers develop PCK and to establish ecological validity of the National Board assessments.…

Investigated were student problem-solving strategies in an attempt to develop a model of student performance. The problem-solving strategies used by 30 high school students were analyzed. Suggestions for improved instruction in solving genetics problems are provided. (CW)