This study investigates the influence of inquiry-based laboratory activities on the understanding of heat concepts and the self-efficacy beliefs of pre-service primary teachers. Recognizing that both scientific literacy and teaching efficacy are critical for effective science education, this research aims to determine how inquiry-based laboratory…

This study presents a STEM activity titled "A Paleontologist's Task: Fossils" designed based on the 5E learning model. The activity was implemented within the unit of "Earth's crust and Earth" in a science lesson with 22 fourth grade students attending a public primary school in Düzce/Turkey in the 2020- 2021 academic year. As…

Curiosity is the inner drive for learning or 'hunger for learning' which is among the twenty-first-century learning competencies. Students in their earliest stage ought to exhibit curiosity to stir up knowledge acquisition and exploration, yet the development of curiosity in the context of education is considered to be unusual. This research…

Raising awareness on marine environmental issues is crucial to deepen students' knowledge on ocean sustainability. Nonetheless, ocean-related topics have not been adequately addressed through formal education curricula, thus non-formal learning activities were developed to promote Ocean Literacy among students. These include visits to the local…

A storytelling approach has been seen as a powerful way to teach science and arouse interest and promote positive attitudes toward learning science in the early years. The purpose of our study was to determine how middle school students -- Key Stage 3 (KS3) aged 12-14 in Portuguese schools -- experienced learning chemistry through storytelling and…

Teachers' beliefs are strong predictors of their practices. They guide how teachers understand the implementation of effective inquiry-based lessons. The cross-case analysis indicated that the fundamental problems observed in many Thai pre-service science teachers' classroom inquiries stemmed from their beliefs on teaching science. Although the…

This research reports the assessment of pre-service teachers' reception and attitudes towards virtual laboratory experiments in Life Sciences with the aim of advancing adaptability to digital learning. Using sequential mixed-methods in a quasi-experimental design, 68 pre-service teachers in the 3rd year of a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) program…

One of the topics students have understanding difficulties in science is pressure. The study investigates the effectiveness of an active-learning environment on the students' understanding of the concept of pressure. The sample consisted of 30 students from a public secondary school in Turkey. This study used a pre-test, post-test,…

Background: Foundation phase teachers are not science specialists; however, they are expected to teach science. It is important that research determines where teachers face challenges in teaching science in order to assist them to bridge the gaps and to improve their competence in teaching science. Aim: The aim of this research was to explore…

Background: Helping upper elementary and lower secondary school students develop an awareness of various aspects of the nature of science (NOS) and nature of technology (NOT) is a widely recognized goal of science teaching. In this study, we focus on the connections between science and technology (S&T). Purpose: We report on the design,…

Although weight and mass are considered fundamental concepts in physics, they are still not well understood by students. A computer simulation was designed to improve students' learning of these concepts and compared it with other teaching strategies. The research was carried out with 142 students (7th grade; 12-13 years old), from three schools.…

At the botanical garden of the University of Würzburg, we conducted practical lessons on bionics, focused on the lotus effect, with 260 students. Those approx. 14 years old, 8th-grade mid-level students were divided into two groups. During an instructional discussion about the topic, one group was confronted with their alternative conceptions…

This study was designed to exemplify how hands-on based teaching strategies enhanced students' knowledge and positive attitudes towards sharks. Hands-on activities for sharks' biological and morphological features were carried out. Eleven elementary school students from a remote area in Taiwan were recruited and assigned to the hands-on condition.…

The observation of living animals in school laboratories provides authentic views of biological research. Various studies stress the importance of primary experiences in biology classes. However, educational films may serve as an alternative in some cases. The aim of this study was to investigate student motivation before and after treatments,…

Korea has recently started to implement a STEM-like approach in K-12 education, titled STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) curriculum, to educate the next generation of students to become creative innovators. As this approach has been shown to increase educational success, it is vital to prepare and develop interest in…