Guided and open inquiry strategies are found to improve students' attitudes toward science. Yet, confirmation and structured inquiry are more often enacted by teachers. The effectiveness of these approaches involving high teacher guidance remains unexplored. Students in six classes (N = 119, M[subscript age] = 11.25 years) were assigned to control…

This paper reports a pretest-posttest study about the impact of a teacher professional development (TPD) programme on primary school teachers' knowledge of and attitude towards inquiry-based learning. A pedagogical framework of inquiry phases and domains of scientific knowledge combined with hard and soft scaffolds formed the basis for the TPD…

The article reanalyzes findings from a systematic review on the work situation and training needs of middle leaders in schools. Following an update search, 37 articles were analyzed and consistently reveal that middle leaders have trivial jobs that do not build their competence. Researchers conclude that they instead should be instructional…

Research findings This study aimed to explore whether the fusion of constructivism and instructivism could be observed in the teaching dialogs during the Engineer Block Building (EBB) activities in Chinese kindergartens. Altogether 20 block building activities about the theme of architecture were videotaped and coded with the "Engineer Design…

The article provides an overview of the quantitative analysis of teachers' metacognitive awareness. The purpose of the overview is to express the need for encompassing measures of metacognition for improving metacognitive awareness in the field of technology and engineering education. The data presented come from using the Metacognitive Awareness…

This study provides psychometric data for the Scholastic Inquiry Observation instrument and 6 years of research data from an inquiry-based professional training program. The rating instrument provides a resource for measuring 16 inquiry-related learning activities based on level of inquiry implementation and level of active student engagement.…

In this study, an educational development approach is investigated aiming at improving reading comprehension outcomes in primary education through inquiry and design-based Science & Technology teaching. The context is societal pressure to increase the likelihood that more students, later in their life, will aspire for careers in…

This study investigated the effectiveness of a novel inquiry-based instructional sequence using interactive simulations for supporting students' development of conceptual understanding, inquiry process skills and confidence in learning. The study, conducted in Beijing, involved two teachers and 117 students in four classes. The teachers…

Background: Teachers can have a significant impact on student interest and learning in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects and careers. Teacher self-efficacy can also significantly affect student learning. Researchers investigated the effects of teacher professional development and integrated STEM curriculum development on…

Background: Data-based decision-making (DBDM) and research-informed teaching practice (RITP) are key to teacher and school improvement. Currently, however, DBDM and RITP represent two distinct approaches to developing evidence-informed practice (EIP) and do not correspond to the all-encompassing notion of EIP envisaged by many academics and…

Studies of professional development have examined the influence of school-based approaches on in-service teacher learning and change but have seldom investigated teachers' job-embedded learning processes. This paper explores the dynamic processes of teacher learning in school-based settings. A qualitative comparative case study based on the…

The purpose of this study was to characterize and compare 64 elementary science teachers' computer simulation use prior to and following professional development (PD) aligned with Innovation Adoption Theory. The PD highlighted computer simulation affordances that elementary teachers might find particularly useful. Qualitative and quantitative…

The use of data for educational decision making has never been more prevalent. However, teachers and school leaders need support in data use. Support can be provided by means of professional development in the form of "data teams". This study followed the functioning of 4 data teams over a period of 2 years, applying a qualitative case…

With only 34% of 8th grade students earning a rating of proficient or higher in science education (from the 2011 National Assessment of Education Progress data), much work is needed in our classrooms to achieve the new more rigorous performance expectations found in the "Next Generation Science Standards." For decades, researchers have…

This paper explores academic developer identity by applying self-concept theory and appreciative inquiry to the personal journeys of two academic developers. Self-attribution, social comparison and reflected appraisals are presented and applied to explain how academic developers form their identities. Sociological principles are incorporated to…