This study examines the effect of teaching with the STEM Cycline of the 'Force and Energy' unit on students' creativity, metacognitive awareness, and academic achievement. The nonequivalent control group design, one of the quasi-experimental models, was used in the study. The study included 54 seventh-grade students studying at a public school in…

The aim of this study is to determine preservice teachers' views of using Kahoot and Socrative. Qualitative research method was applied in the collection, analysis and discussion of the data of the study which is a descriptive one. The study was carried out with the participation of 36 preservice teachers studying in 6 different departments namely…

The Doppler effect is one of the recurring themes in college and high school classes. In order to contextualize the topic and engage the students in their own learning process, we propose a simple and easily accessible activity, i.e. the analysis of the videos available on the internet by the students. The sound of the engine of the vehicle…

This column provides background science information for elementary teachers. When the author was young he used to think that the ideal design for a concert hall would contain walls that were composed of sound-absorbing material, like foam or egg cartons or such. He noticed, though, that this was not the case. Most concert halls contain curtains…

The online writing software Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) is a useful tool for assigning writing assignments in large college classes. In this system, students submit essays online and are guided in how to rate essays using criteria written by the instructor. The instructor does not have to grade the essays, and CPR has educational benefits that…

In proteomics, complex mixtures of proteins are separated (usually by chromatography or electrophoresis) and identified by mass spectrometry. We have created 2DE Tandem MS, a computer program designed for use in the biochemistry, proteomics, or bioinformatics classroom. It contains two simulations--2D electrophoresis and tandem mass spectrometry.…

One of the most challenging tasks in increasingly diverse classrooms is helping students develop the "knowledge and language of science to communicate scientific explanations and ideas" (NRC 1996, p. 144). In this article, the authors share one of their favorite methods for incorporating and reinforcing science vocabulary instruction in…

Rational drug design requires expertise in structural biology, medicinal chemistry, physiology, and related fields. In teaching structure-based drug design, it is important to develop an understanding of the need for early recognition of molecules with "drug-like" properties as a key component. That is, it is not merely sufficient to teach…

The discovery of a Victorian-era microscope slide titled "Grouped Flower Seeds" began an investigation into the scientific and historical background of the antique slide to develop its usefulness as a multidisciplinary tool for PowerPoint presentations usable in contemporary biology classrooms, particularly large-enrollment sections. The resultant…

In the present study, a web site including instructional materials such as Whiteboard Movies (WBM), simulations and animations and testing materials such as true-false, fill-in-the-blanks, puzzles, open-ended questions and multiple-choice questions was designed. The study was carried out with 76 students attending Dicle College (DC), Diyarbakir…

Operating Systems (OS) is an important and mandatory discipline in many Computer Science, Information Systems and Computer Engineering curricula. Some of its topics require a careful and detailed explanation from the instructor as they often involve theoretical concepts and somewhat complex mechanisms, demanding a certain degree of abstraction…

Cloud software enables children to engage with their work across and within subjects, not least in science. Bradford College in the UK and the University of Aveiro in Portugal were funded by an Anglo-Portuguese research programme, "The treaty of Windsor", to look at how new web-based technologies are embedded within pre-service and…

Online inquiry, use of the Web as an information resource to inquire into science, has become increasingly common in middle schools in recent years. However, prior research has found that middle school students tend to use the Web in a superficial manner. To address the challenges that students face in online inquiry, we designed the Digital…

Recent research indicated that students' ability to construct evidence-based explanations in classrooms through scientific inquiry is critical to successful science education. Structured argumentation support environments have been built and used in scientific discourse in the literature. To the best of our knowledge, no research work in the…

This study examined some of the methodological approaches used by students to construct causal maps in order to determine which approaches help students understand the underlying causes and causal mechanisms in a complex system. This study tested the relationship between causal understanding (ratio of root causes correctly/incorrectly identified,…