How do scientists make inferences for something they cannot directly observe? The Black Box approach seems ideal to help students understand how scientists work. Black Boxes are sealed units; their interior is not accessible. The effort to determine their possible content (internal structure) demands successive modifications in hypothesis,…

We designed the Integrated Sciences First-Year Program (ISFP) to introduce students to the nature and process of science early in their academic career, help them develop skills and competencies, and create an intellectual community of learners to foster belonging within science. Using their inherent curiosity, we designed active learning…

Inquiry skill is the most important factor in the development of the scientific processes of prospective science teachers. The objective of this study is to research the effect of using inquiry-based activities on the development of scientific process skills of prospective science teachers. The research group of the study consists of students…

Prior knowledge of and interest in subject matter are recognised as important factors influencing students' academic achievement and the quality of their learning experience. Teaching students who are diverse in terms of their prior knowledge of and interest in the subject matter is an oft-cited challenge in science general education courses. The…

We have developed and verified laboratory work as guided inquiry for upper secondary level students, focusing on conceptual understanding of the physical principle that forms the basis of temperature measurement, and on improvement of selected skills. Conceptual pre-test questions initiate the students' interest and help identify input…

Science teaching and learning require knowledge about how learning takes place (cognition) and how learners interact with their surroundings (affective and sociocultural factors). The study reported on focussed on learning for understanding of Newton's second law of motion from a cognitive perspective that takes social factors into account. A…

This paper will describe a guided inquiry activity for teaching ligand field theory. Previous research suggests the guided inquiry approach is highly effective for student learning. This activity familiarizes students with the key concepts of molecular orbital theory applied to coordination complexes. Students will learn to identify factors that…

This study investigates how a two-year continuing professional development (CPD) programme, with an emphasis on teaching about science through inquiry, impacted the experiences of, approaches to and attitudes towards teaching science of 17 primary teachers in Dublin. Data sources included interview, questionnaire and reflective journal strategies.…

The National Science Foundation-sponsored report "Fostering Learning in the Networked World" called for "a common, open platform to support communities of developers and learners in ways that enable both to take advantage of advances in the learning sciences." We review research on science inquiry learning environments (ILEs)…

The National Science Education Standards have highlighted the importance of active learning and reflection for contemporary scientific methods in K-12 classrooms, including the use of models. Computer modeling and visualization are tools that researchers employ in their scientific inquiry process, and often computer models are used in…

This article describes the use of an enquiry-based approach to the study of human evolution in a practical context, integrating role-playing, jigsaw cooperative learning and scientific argumentation. The activity seeks to unravel the evolutionary relationships of five hominids and one ape from rather "messy" evidence. This approach enhanced the…

Science explores nature and the most authentic way of introducing science is creating learning environments in the nature and let children make their own discoveries in the nature as real scientists. Science camps would be an opportunity for this kind of science education. This study introduces a science camp and reports findings regarding its…

Two commercial self-heating food products have been used to apply chemical concepts such as stoichiometry, enthalpies of reactions and solutions, and heat transfer in a classroom activity. These products are the self-heating beverages sold in Europe and the Meals, Ready to Eat or MREs used primarily by the military in the United States. The main…

Understanding how geckos--small lizards belonging to the family "Gekkonindae"--can "defy gravity" and walk across a ceiling provides a fascinating frame through which students can not only learn valuable content about electrostatic forces, but also engage in authentic scientific practice and explore new technologies based on gecko adhesion. In…

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of inquiry-based computer simulation with heterogeneous-ability cooperative learning (HACL) and inquiry-based computer simulation with friendship cooperative learning (FCL) on (a) scientific reasoning (SR) and (b) conceptual understanding (CU) among Form Four students in Malaysian Smart…