Research indicates many professional development (PD) programs fail to promote a significant change in science teaching, despite the resources invested in them. While previous research addresses this problem through aspects of policy making, design, and teachers' identity, we suggest a focus on teachers' engagement in learning during PD sessions.…

Through the lens of science capital, this research aims to detect the key factors and their main effects in identifying students with science-related career expectations. A machine learning approach (i.e., random forest) was employed to analyze a dataset of 519,334 15-year-old students from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)…

This study investigates the relationships between professional knowledge, self-concept, and interest of pre-service physics teachers. In order to support student learning and interest development alike, teachers need a profound professional knowledge and respective motivational orientations. Developing both professional knowledge and motivational…

Recent research on achievement in science asserts that motivation, emotion, and metacognition are important driving forces for learning. This study sought to examine the relationships between two physics class emotions (hope and anxiety), their motivational predictors (instrumentality and self-efficacy), and their effects on metacognitive problem…

We propose a new model of the factors influencing acceptance of evolutionary theory that highlights a novel variable unexplored in previous studies: the feeling of certainty (FOC). The model is grounded in an emerging understanding of brain function that acknowledges the contributions of intuitive cognitions in making decisions, such as whether or…

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…