As contemporary society evolves, technological revolutions are increasingly forcing academic and secondary institutions to adopt innovative strategies rather than traditional instruction. Therefore, the use of ICT in teaching is an active teaching method with proven effectiveness on learning outcomes and student motivation in life and earth…

Facilitating students' deep-strategy behaviors and positive learning performances of science inquiry is an important and challenging educational issue. In this study, a contextual science inquiry approach is proposed for developing a 3D experiential game to cope with this problem. To evaluate the impacts of the game on students' science learning…

Mineralogy is an essential component of Earth Science education, yet many students struggle to obtain adequate comprehension and knowledge of mineralogy during tertiary (postsecondary) degree programs. The use of educational games can be an effective strategy for science teaching as games provide an active learning environment that enhances…

GLOBE is a global educational program for elementary and high school levels, and its main purpose in Costa Rica is to develop scientific thinking and interest for science in high school students through hydrology research projects that allow them to relate science with environmental issues in their communities. Youth between 12 and 17 years old…

Recognizing the relevance that fieldwork and field trips have in the teaching of geosciences and related learning processes, this study presents two geological fieldwork studies that were established with Portuguese secondary school students. Both studies were focused on geoscience content knowledge, and attempted to increase environmental…

This study describes how in-service teachers in the pre-vocational sector in Mauritius adopted specific strategies to overcome the language barrier in the learning of science (Van Driel, Verloop & de Vos, 1998). Students of form III were taught few basic ideas related to "Earth & Space" through the use of role play and ICT. The…

To motivate student learning, the affective domain--emotion, attitude, and motivation--must be engaged. We propose a model that is specific to the geosciences with theoretical components of motivation and emotion from the field of educational psychology, and a term we are proposing, "connections with Earth" based on research in the…

For many years, the planet Mars was nothing more than a little red dot in a sea of stars and a blur in many science classrooms. Recent focus on the planet, however, has led to incredible teaching opportunities, such as the Mars Student Imaging Project (MSIP) facilitated by Arizona State University's Mars Education Program. The MSIP curriculum…

Describes Jigsaw Teaching, a cooperative learning approach, in relation to mineral identification. This technique may also be applied to rock identification. Students work in groups of four and learn to identify 20 minerals, becoming an "expert" on five of them. Helping to teach other students reinforces what each student has learned.…

Collaborating closely with a 10th-grade science teacher, we designed a Web-based learning environment (Web-LE) to improve student motivation to learn science. Factors believed to enhance intrinsic motivation (challenge, control, curiosity, and fantasy) were integrated into the instructional design of the Web-based learning tool. The Web-LE was…

Contents of this issue are as follows: "Applied Suggestology in the United States: Suggestive-Accelerative Learning and Teaching" by Dean F. Held; "A Study of Suggestopedia Features that Can Be Omitted Once Students Learn How to Learn" by D.H. Schuster and P.J. Wardell; "Evaluation of the Suggestive-Accelerative Lozanov…