This study explored the effects of explicit and implicit epistemologically enhanced instructions probing 9th-grade students' personal epistemologies on their physics-related personal epistemology (PPE) and physics achievement in the heat and temperature unit. In the implicit epistemologically enhanced instruction (IEEI), different dimensions of…

Secondary school students find it difficult to write elaborated causal explanations of scientific phenomena. They frequently present their own opinions and write descriptions of their observations rather than linking observations with logical chains of causal reasoning, underpinned by a theoretical framework, to provide explanations of scientific…

This study presents findings from three different disciplines in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine) and across different models of student-focused teaching. Specifically, we assessed the feasibility and effectiveness of flipped classroom approaches combined with team based learning (TBL), and TBL alone within STEMM,…

This study aimed to assess the impact of problem-based learning (PBL) on students' achievement in mechanical waves among secondary schools in South Western Uganda. Four hundred and nineteen students (419) from 19 schools were involved in this study. A quasi-experimental research method was employed through Solomon's four-group design. Form six…

This study is a comparative analysis of 15-year-old students' scientific literacy, and its association with the instructional strategies that students experience, across six OECD countries that participated in PISA 2015. Across the six countries, the study investigates the efficacy of inquiry-based instruction in science in contrast with two other…

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…

Over the past several decades, empirical support for inquiry-based forms of science teaching has accumulated. Critical voices, however, also exist, claiming that minimally guided teaching approaches might be less effective than guided forms; they might even be harmful, particularly for novice students, due to the production of cognitive overload.…

This study investigated the effect of the metacognitive instruction in which students' epistemic cognitions were explicitly addressed, on tenth-grade students' conceptual understandings regarding force and motion. The participants of the study included 107 (49 female, 58 male) tenth-grade students at two public high schools. A quasi-experimental…

In self-determination theory, Ryan and Deci (2017) propose that psychological well-being is based on three innate psychological needs: relatedness, competence, and autonomy. The perception of autonomy in particular has positive effects on students' well-being and the quality of experience in educational settings. A positive effect of perceived…

The German National Education Standards (NES) for biology were introduced in 2005. The content part of the NES emphasizes fostering conceptual knowledge. However, there are hardly any indications of what such an instructional implementation could look like. We introduce a theoretical framework of an instructional approach to foster students'…

Two 20-h modelling-based workshops focused on the explanation of thermally activated phenomena were held at the University of Palermo, Italy, during the Academic Year 2014-2015. One of them was conducted by applying an inquiry-based approach, while the other, still based on laboratory and modelling activities, was not focused on inquiry.…

An increasing number of planetariums worldwide are turning digital, using ultra-fast computers, powerful graphic cards, and high-resolution video projectors to create highly realistic astronomical imagery in real time. This modern technology makes it so that the audience can observe astronomical phenomena from a geocentric as well as an…

The nature of science (NOS) has become a central goal of science education in many countries. This study refers to a "developmental work research" program, in which four fifth-grade elementary in-service teachers participated. It aimed to improve their understandings of NOS and their abilities to teach it effectively to their students.…

Many studies dedicated to the teaching and learning of organic chemistry courses have emphasized that high school students have shown significant difficulties in mastering the concepts of this discipline. Therefore, the aim of our study was to help students to overcome these difficulties by applying systemic synthesis questions, [SSynQs], as the…

Analogies can play a relevant role in students' learning. However, for the effective use of analogies, teachers should not only have a well-prepared repertoire of validated analogies, which could serve as bridges between the students' prior knowledge and the scientific knowledge they desire them to understand, but also know how to…