It is 157 years since Mendel presented his results on hybridisation in peas to the Brünn Society for Natural Science. The discipline of genetics has dramatically changed since then, with technological advancements revealing multifactorial causation and trait variability. Whilst none of this complexity featured in the discovery of classical…

A confluence of circumstances in educational policy and teacher preparation have placed a low priority on elementary science teacher preparation. Historically, a lack of elementary science teachers' subject matter knowledge and pedagogical knowledge has negatively impacted science teaching self-efficacy, which is linked to many teacher and student…

In an era of socio-ecological challenges and uncertain times, it is imperative that student voice is supported to enable student transformative agency and desired positive change in their lives and community. Although international policy, the Australian Curriculum, School Strategic Plans, communities, teachers, and students often advocate for…

This study utilized the SEC (Survey of Enacted Curriculum) method to examine the alignment between Chinese high school chemistry curriculum standards (HSCCS) and the assessment of 'Chemical Reaction Principles' in the National College Entrance Examinations (NCEEs). The HSCCS and NCEEs were coded into two-dimensional matrices separately using SPSS,…

The efforts shown in recent years related to the reform movements in science education have focused on the assertion that informed nature of science understandings (NOS, hereafter) should be developed. In line with this idea, NOS has become the central component of numerous science curricula. In the study, therefore, it was aimed to determine…

Understanding the nature of science (NOS) has emerged as a core curricular goal since at least the 1960s. While science education reforms around the world have shed light on various epistemic and social underpinnings of science, how science curriculum documents portray the nature of other related disciplines such as mathematics and engineering has…

There has been a longstanding interest in the kinds of scientific knowledge that primary science learners must know and be able to do, which comprise the intellectual demands in this subject. These prescriptions chiefly take guidance from national curriculum documents, especially in the form of their learning outcomes (LO) or learning standards.…

In the past few decades, scientific and educational entities in the United States have repeatedly expended considerable fiscal and human resources in an effort to establish contemporary education standards, curriculum frameworks, and assessment tools. These efforts are intended to reform the quantity and quality of K-16 Earth science education…

Post-apartheid South African curriculum reforms, from outcomes-based education (OBE) to the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), resulted in different challenges. Teachers, in particular those teaching Physical Sciences in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase from Grades 10-12, were expected to cope with changes and master…

Over the past 20 years research on reform efforts aimed at the chemistry laboratory has focused on different aspects of students' experiences including increasing content knowledge, improving student attitudes toward chemistry, incorporating inquiry activities, and providing students a hands-on experience related to the chemistry concepts learned…

It is difficult to explore and understand how student knowledge develops with regard to complex systems, such as ecosystems. This study proposes the use of a Knowledge in Pieces(KiP) framework to analyze student knowledge and development in the domain of life sciences. The aim was to utilize quantitative and qualitative analyses of student…

The aim of this study is to contribute to an understanding of how curricular change is accomplished in practice, including the positions and conflicts of key stakeholders and participants, and their actions in the process. As a case, we study the treatment of energy in Swedish secondary curricula in the period 1962-2011 and, in particular, how the…

Over 50 years, two major reform efforts in science education took place. The purpose of the present study is to explore how the educational reforms were reflected in nine 6th grade science textbooks published in 1975, in 1985 and in 1997 in terms of (a) the materials used, (b) the contexts to which the electricity concept was related, (c) the type…

In many countries around the world, there has been an increasing emphasis on improving science education. Recent reform efforts in the USA call for teachers to integrate scientific and engineering practices into science teaching; for example, science teachers are asked to provide learning experiences for students that apply crosscutting concepts…

The first author re-entered the middle grades classroom to teach a new National Science Foundation (NSF) physical science curriculum that was designed to foster conceptual change through a scientific approach. The curriculum design met the need and call for reform in science education through its focus on inquiry, evidence-based reasoning, peer…