Basic science process skills (SPSs) constitute a key dimension of the scientific competence that should be developed from an early age. Therefore, preservice elementary teachers (PETs) who are preparing to teach science should have a sufficient mastery about it. This study presents a questionnaire that allows gradual levels of performance in SPSs…

Research reveals that teachers regularly refer to intuitive construals (IC) in formal science education. Only a few studies, however, have investigated why teachers refer to them. Alarmingly, these studies suggest didactic consideration is not the main reason for this. Instead, teachers introduce IC unintentionally or due to a lack of expertise. A…

Teachers, pre-service teachers and teacher educators in Australia are predominately European Australian with a small minority of First Nations people. Those with limited first-hand understanding of First Nations ways of knowing can find it difficult to embed these knowledges across learning areas. This is particularly complex for pre-service…

Science is part of the educational curricula, and its teaching is the responsibility of teachers. Since 2000, scholars from The Organisation for Economic Co-operation (OECD) countries have been tested in science by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), despite the diversity in national higher education systems. This requires a…

Effective classroom discourse is a critical yet complex component to learning science [Achieve. (2013). "Next generation science standards: For states, by states." The National Academies Press]. This study focuses on the abilities of Elementary pre-service teachers (EPSTs) to lead effective science discourse as they plan, implement, and…

As a myriad of student-centred practices in primary science education have been established as valuable, effective cornerstones of teachers' repertoires, there is now space to further consider student choice in science education. This paper seeks to examine the role of student choice in primary science education by exploring the relationship…

Science education is an important component of a full education beginning in primary grades. In recent decades, research has identified young learners' rich knowledge of the natural world and their potential to connect with sophisticated science ideas. Elementary teachers face many challenges to implementing reform-based science instruction in…

Research indicates that teachers lack a sophisticated understanding of Nature of Science (NOS), which in turn, can impact their instructional decisions and students' understanding of NOS. The aim of the study was to investigate United Arab Emirates (UAE) early years' science teacher's (N = 433) perceptions about the NOS. Results obtained from a…

A large body of research has studied the role and potential of inquiry to increase the quality of teaching in science education. While much of this existing research is based on international large-scale assessment studies, we still lack a clear understanding of the factors that influence the quality of inquiry-based science teaching in actual…

Language is a fundamental tool for learning science. This study highlights the importance of teacher knowledge in utilising language as a tool for knowledge generation in the classrooms. This case study examines elementary teachers' development of declarative, procedural, and epistemic knowledge related to using language, particularly focusing on…

The worrying decline in the status of primary school science in schools in England has been linked to low teacher confidence in teaching science and to schools being heavily focused on achievement in English and mathematics. This article reports on a novel professional learning strategy that was provided for 23 primary science leaders over five…

Data from PISA and TIMSS have recently fuelled the debate on the efficacy of Inquiry-Based Science Teaching (IBST). Some analyses of these data show that the effects of different scientific activities related to IBST carried out with students vary according to the frequency of their implementation. Extending this research, the present study…

Awe is a complex emotion theorised to impact science learning and practice. In science education, awe has the potential to motivate explanation-seeking, promote conceptual change, and instill feelings of connectedness to the natural world. This exploratory study examined teachers' experiences with awe as well as their uses of awe in their science…

We explored the use of field trips for educational and teaching purposes by French kindergarten, primary-school teachers and natural science teachers in secondary schools. More specifically, we studied field trips in a "natural" environment by undertaking a French curriculum analysis and surveying teachers. We examined the responses of…

This paper reports a mapping of the astronomy content knowledge held by a sample of 171 Chilean in-service teachers, both from primary and secondary education, using a multiple-choice test. The responses were analysed by total achievement, and the proportion of alternative conceptions for each item was identified. Moreover, the test items were…