This study aimed to examine whether withholding answers coupled with physical manipulation of material strengthened by the self-explanation effect (SEE) contribute to the development of a deeper conceptual understanding and retention of learning about motion content in a hands-on (HO) learning environment. The correlation between students'…

Primary school topics involving abstract concepts are challenging to teach. Electric circuits can be simply constructed but complex to explain. New approaches in teaching students for understanding are needed to advance practice in primary science. This paper combines the strengths of multimodality research perspectives with variation theory to…

The nature of science (NOS) has been recognised as an essential component for engagement with socioscientific issues (SSI). However, the findings on the link between the two have been inconclusive. This calls for a shift from students merely knowing about NOS, to using their understanding of it as a tool for decision-making and participation in…

Genetics is known to be one of the most challenging subjects in biology education because of its abstract concepts and processes. Therefore, hands-on experiments in authentic learning environments are supposed to increase comprehensibility and provide otherwise unavailable experiences to students. We applied a hands-on module in an out-of-school…

This study explored how peer feedback after hands-on scientific inquiry (SI) activities affected students' SI competence over time (6 weeks) by implementing an after-school intervention program in which 188 Chinese ninth-grade students (14-16 years old) participated during their first semester. A between-subject experimental design was used for…

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the effectiveness of unstructured, semi-structured, structured hands-on modeling activities and traditional teaching methods in developing academic achievement, problem-solving skills, and scientific creativity in prospective science teachers in the subject of the human circulatory and respiratory…

The aim of this study is to comparatively investigate the effects of hands-on models (HMs) and computer simulations (CSs) on teaching the phases and eclipses of the Moon. In this study, two different HMs were developed, and three different CSs were used. The research work group consisted of 100 pre-service science teachers. A quasi-experimental…

Informal science educators' (ISEs) work with young children has received limited attention in the literature. We investigated ISEs' goals for preschool-aged audiences (3- to 5-year-old children), methods they describe for achieving these goals, and how ISEs understand young children as "doing science" in their venues. We interviewed 35…

Around the globe, science education during compulsory schooling is envisioned for all learners regardless of their educational and career aspirations, including learners bound to the workforce upon secondary school completion. Yet, a major barrier in attaining this vision is low learner participation in secondary school science. Because curricula…

Learning analytics, referring to the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of data about learners and their contexts in order to optimize learning and the environments in which it occurs, is proving to be a powerful approach for understanding and improving science learning. However, few studies focused on leveraging learning analytics…

The first phase of this multiphase study involves modeling of college students' thinking of friction at the microscopic level. Diagnostic interviews were conducted with 11 students with different levels of physics backgrounds. A phenomenographic approach of data analysis was used to generate categories of responses which subsequently were used to…

Given that interest is associated with learning in educational research, understanding how its development can be supported in different learning contexts represents an important line of inquiry. In this study, we investigate the influence of the slowmation construction process on middle school students' interest in learning science and geology.…

The purpose of this study was to interpret students' participation in terms of social and argumentation norms to improve understanding of social interaction in scientific argumentation. Therefore, the study sought to identify social and argumentation norms formed in group argumentation and to explore changes in students' participation as lessons…

This study investigates the relationship, if any, between teacher participation in a targeted professional development programme and changes in participants' instructional practice and their pupils' attitudes to learning primary science. The programme took place over a 2-year period in 15 small rural schools in the West of Ireland. Data sources…

This study stemmed from concerns among researchers that reform efforts grounded in promoting inquiry as the basis for teaching science have not achieved the desired changes in American science classrooms. Many science teachers assume that they are employing inquiry-based strategies when they use cookbook investigations with highly structured…