Background: Inquiry-based instruction is a prominent teaching strategy in science education that is assumed to be an effective means to foster not only students' understanding of science content but also their procedural and epistemic knowledge concerning inquiry processes. Empirical studies have repeatedly shown that inquiry-related activities…

Evolutionary medicine is a growing area of research and practice; however, it is not widely discussed in introductory biology courses. Because of the interest in human biology, using evolutionary medicine is a great way to hold students' interest, placing topics in context, making the subject of evolution relevant. Too often students lose interest…

Practical work involving laboratory experiments is agreed upon to be an essential component of secondary science education. Practical work encompasses a broad range of activity types. The different forms of practical work are not equal in terms of cognitive demand and learning benefit. Inquiry-based investigations provide experience of cognitive…

This work analyzes the educational proposals designed by 130 future secondary school teachers (FTs) to address socioecological problems--in this case, the presence of microplastics in the environment--, and the relationship with their own perceptions and commitments regarding these problems. The research design was mixed, with both qualitative and…

The number of students opting for science subjects, particularly biology, beyond compulsory school level has been decreasing substantially in recent decades in Mauritius. This decline is of major concern when scientific literacy and the need for science-based employment are considered fundamental to face both local and global challenges. Although…

The discovery of frog abnormalities by students on a school field trip in 1995 sparked hundreds of scientific studies in search of the cause of abnormality. This Socio-Scientific Issue has been used as an inquiry-based learning exercise for training in the practice of science, but it is also well-suited to teaching the nature of science. Our goal…

This report investigates the progression of students from GCSE to A level in the same (or related) subject. That is, for a range of subjects, the proportion of GCSE students who continue to study the subject at A level is calculated. To understand possible sources of variation progression rates are broken down by GCSE grade and student gender.…

Environmental problems are a factor that influences the health of the world's great population. Developed countries make pollution part of a serious problem in urban industrial centers. The aim of this research is to address the following objectives: (1) to analyze the trend in the number of environmental literacy research conducted annually; (2)…

Within the scope of this investigation, educational instruments grounded on materialist ontology were employed to undertake a semantic analysis of the concepts of cell and the mechanisms of living organisms as they appear in biology and natural science textbooks. Drawing upon the ontological categories applied to distinct biological system levels,…

Sexuality constitutes an important aspect of sustainable development as the concept is used by the United Nations. Education is commonly viewed as crucial to achieving sustainability, and promoting action competence is a key element in such educational efforts. This suggests that education should support individuals in actively seeking information…

High school students are very seldomly, if at all, taught that race is a social rather than biological construct, and this pedagogical omission has led to biological essentialism. Biological essentialism is the belief that race can be used in predictable ways to determine intellect and/or behavior. Biological essentialism can result in the belief…

Increasingly, science teachers are seeking phenomena that will allow them to explore both scientific content and socially relevant issues. The authors describe a series of lessons that (1) model the exoneration of wrongly convicted individuals using the science of DNA analysis and (2) contextualize individual cases within a larger system where…

Hands-on dissections of animals are traditionally regarded as an essential part of biology education. Nowadays, regardless of the reported educational benefits, there is a gradual change in the concept and acceptance of hands-on dissection, leading in many cases to its abandonment in schools and its replacement with alternatives such as 3D models,…

This dissertation is comprised of three studies that define and subsequently evaluate different antecedents to STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) anxiety in elementary, secondary, and tertiary faculty. The literature review developed a framework of antecedents to anxiety in STEM classrooms or contexts. This was accomplished…

Governance and regulation of the use of live animals in research and teaching is examined in Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, China, Japan and India. A comparison of the systems in different countries will enable the determination of best practice and fit-forpurpose regulation. The most comprehensive government…