The teaching of laboratory skills to undergraduate students is central to all experimental sciences. In this setting, students must understand the experimental procedures as well as the fundamental principle(s) being demonstrated, all while learning within a limited time. Other limiting factors include access to equipment and reagents, resulting…

One of the main courses that have been affected by instructional technology is science education since the nature of topics covered by the science curriculum may require the usage of technology to teach them better. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of virtual laboratories on the development of gifted children's…

A pilot study, funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, supported 10 secondary schools across England to plan and deliver open-ended investigative practical work within science curriculum time. This enabled all students to experience the benefits of investigative work, rather than just those attending extracurricular STEM enrichment activities.…

We describe the development, design, implementation, and preliminary classroom results of an innovative curriculum, "Focus on Energy," that supports learning about energy in Grades 4-5. The curriculum is grounded in the concepts of science as practice, model-based reasoning, and learning progressions, and builds on students' pre-existing…

We developed a comprehensive training module for the undergraduates majoring in chemical education with a simple microfluidic experiment. The students were required to read a scientific reference offered by the instructor, then design and implement a microfluidic experiment for real sample analysis by making some modifications to the method…

A conceptual framework for empirical research on the impact of NASA Space Science Education Consortium (NSSEC) activities is presented in this paper, along with a cross-referencing system between the NSF-based NSSEC evaluation framework and historical definitions of comparable psychometric constructs in the literature. A selected set of findings…

Authentic student-led inquiry and exposure to scientific research impact students' science career choices. Given Australian students decline in STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] skills, knowledge of whether such programmes impact student learning is critical. This research examined the short-term impact of an authentic,…

The Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center (BTEC) at North Carolina State University is an instructional center that offers education and training programs in the area of biopharmaceutical process development and manufacturing. Our programs are designed to provide educational opportunities throughout the "life cycle" of a…

This research aims to determine whether Problem-Based Learning (PBL) helps in fostering scientific creativity among fifth graders. Students' scientific creativity (SC) was investigated in the product dimensions of (a) solving scientific problems, (b) understanding scientific phenomena, (c) advancement in scientific knowledge, and (d) improvisation…

Background: Despite the widespread use of practical work in school it has been recognised that more needs to be done to improve its effectiveness in developing conceptual understanding. The "Getting Practical" CPD (Continuing Professional Development) programme was designed to contribute towards an improvement in the effectiveness of…

"ECHOS: Early Childhood Hands-On Science" was developed at the Miami Science Museum as a comprehensive set of science lessons sequenced to lead children toward a deeper understanding of science content and the use of science process skills. The purpose of the research is to determine whether use of the "ECHOS" model will…

Hopscotch, basketball, or hide-and-seek? Children have many choices at recess, and while making these choices they must consider and make trade-offs. The way they make these decisions is not that different from the thought processes engineers use when making design trade-offs. Engineers have to make trade-offs because a design that meets all…

This paper describes the redesign and implementation of the course, "Introduction to Programming for Engineers" using microcontroller (MCU) hardware as the programming target. The objective of this effort is to improve the programming competency for engineering students by more closely relating the initial programming experience to the student's…

To support teachers in enhancing ocean literacy, the Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE) has developed a series of portable, hands-on science kits on selected topics in oceanography. This paper provides an overview of kit content, describes how the kits were developed, and evaluates their efficacy as a curriculum…

Despite the growing popularity of robotics competitions such as FIRST LEGO League, robotics activities are typically not found in regular K-12 classrooms. We speculate that, among other reasons, limited adoption is due to the lack of empirical evidence demonstrating the effect of robotics activities on curricular goals. This paper presents a mixed…