This article examines how emergent bilingual students used gestures in science class, and the consequences of students' gestures when their language repertoire limited their possibilities to express themselves. The study derived from observations in two science classes in Sweden. In the first class, 3rd grade students (9-10 years old) were…

We propose a process of contextualization based on seven empirically derived contextualization principles, aiming to provide opportunities for Indigenous Mexican adolescents to learn science in a way that supports them in fulfilling their right to an education aligned with their own culture and values. The contextualization principles we…

The purpose of this study is to provide insight into short-term professionalization of teachers regarding teaching socioscientific issues (SSI). The study aimed to capture the development of science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for SSI teaching by enacting specially designed SSI curriculum materials. The study also explores…

While environmental argumentation has recently received much attention from science educators, little consideration has been given to how personal identities and social relationships can either support or constrain student argumentation. This study attends to this issue by examining environmental argumentation as a sociocultural activity (how…

Teachers often have difficulty implementing inquiry-based activities, leading to the arousal of negative emotions. In this multicase study of beginning physics teachers in Australia, we were interested in the extent to which their expectations were realized and how their classroom experiences while implementing extended experimental investigations…

Set in the context of today's globalized approaches to curriculum reform, the purpose of this study was to compare the teaching and learning of science in Chinese and Australian Grade 6 classrooms. A conceptual framework based on notions of culture and socioeconomic status informed the research design. Case study participants were three teachers…

This study further extends a conceptual framework that explores science teaching as a "practice" not reducible to the application of formal knowledge, but as informed by teachers' practical-moral knowledge. A hermeneutic model was developed to examine practical-moral knowledge "indirectly" by investigating teachers'…

In 2005 India introduced a new National Curriculum Framework aimed at providing a more constructivist approach to learning for all subjects. Previous research on the impact of curriculum reform in other countries (e.g., United States) concluded that for reform to be successful teachers' orientations toward teaching and learning must be considered…

This study examines the process by which system thinking perceptions develop within the context of a water cycle curriculum. Four junior high school students undergoing an especially designed inquiry-based intervention were closely observed before, during, immediately after, and 6 years after completing a year long systems-based learning program.…

Learning physics is a complex phenomenon. In this article, we use concepts from the theory of nonlinear systems to study the development of language in classroom science in an experimental unit on chaos theory in a German 10th-grade physics classroom. In ongoing activity, the explanations students developed for phenomena emerged through…

Presents a case study of problems that can occur when teaching the topic of redox reactions to grade-11 students. Concludes that the teachers' scientific expertise is an important source of difficulties when teaching redox reactions. Discusses implications for improvement of current chemistry classroom practice and content-related teacher…

Investigated relationship between lesson content and participation of pupils in rural India primary schools. Spontaneous participation in teacher-directed classrooms (N=136) was shown to be correlated with time spent by teachers in relating textbook content to pupils' natural experience. Experiments and teaching aids were also useful in drawing…

Investigated the problems chemistry majors have with learning distillation concepts in traditional chemistry laboratory courses. Reports that students take the generalized concepts at face value, construct decontextualized concepts for distillation, and cannot interpret their observations or make reasoned decisions based on the theoretical…

Analyzed the relationship between general coding orientation and specific characteristics associated with the family (social class, race, gender) and the school (pedagogic practice and science achievement) of (n=80) socially differentiated elementary school children. Found that there is a mutual influence of family and school factors on students'…

This article explores the beliefs and practices of a high school biology teacher through three interrelated theoretical frameworks: common knowledge, collaborative learning, and communities of practice. The data were obtained from an in-depth case study of Maria, a biology teacher from a Mexican public high school that was participating in a…