Effective classroom discourse is a critical yet complex component to learning science [Achieve. (2013). "Next generation science standards: For states, by states." The National Academies Press]. This study focuses on the abilities of Elementary pre-service teachers (EPSTs) to lead effective science discourse as they plan, implement, and…

Promoting problem-solving in students is an important aim of secondary science education. There is a mismatch, however, between the complex, ill-structured nature of realistic scientific problems, versus the well-structured problems students are generally confronted with. The current study investigates a teaching-learning strategy that resolves…

Technology has arisen as a powerful tool for enhancing student's learning and engagement in science education, particularly in the context of elementary inquiry-based science education (IBSE). This systematic review examines the use of technology in elementary IBSE over the past decade, analyzing 22 empirical studies to identify research trends,…

This study examines the use of critical questions (CQs) as an 'explicit' pedagogical method in the nature of science to teach Chinese high school students topics of philosophy of science (POS). The study results, evaluated through deductive thematic and qualitative comparative analyses using Toulmin's argumentation patterns and a critical…

Early science learning and, specifically, the development of scientific process skills are essential for children to understand the natural world around them. Question asking is a valuable tool to help children get information to organise and make sense of their environment. This research aims to find out whether pre-elementary children employ…

Current science education reforms highlight the importance of students making sense of scientific ideas. While research has studied how to support sensemaking in classrooms, we still know very little about what drives students to pursue and persist in it on their own. In this article, we use a set of parallel case studies of undergraduate students…

The purpose of this study is to examine the salient characteristics of the 'Question-Answer Process' (QAP) in senior high school chemistry class between pre- and in-service teachers. We first developed the 'Instrument of Question-Answer Process' (IQAP), and then, applied it to compare salient characteristics of QAP between pre- and in-service…

This study examined the roles of gender and STEM major status as predictors of performance in formulating a research question and designing experiment among 70 undergraduate Taiwanese college students participating in inquiry-based learning (IBL). Student participants in this study were involved in discrepant demonstrations of scientific events…

The topic of natural selection presents challenges to high school students since it requires understanding of an emergent process, which is a missing schema for most students. Many interventions for teaching natural selection have limited effect in bringing about substantial ontological conceptual change. This study evaluates the effectiveness of…

Asking questions is an important way of acquiring information and knowledge and plays a significant role in a child's learning processes. In this study, we examine what characterises the questions asked by children to their teachers in two kindergartens (4-6-year-olds) and six primary school classes (2nd-4th grade) when situated in a natural…

The study of questions has occupied a prominent role in the research into classroom discourse. For science teaching, questions are fundamental since they can connect students with the patterns of scientific thinking. In this article, we developed analytical tools to investigate the epistemic dimension of questions in chemistry teaching. We draw…

There is a significant body of research on children's preconceptions concerning scientific concepts and the impact this has upon their science education. One active issue concerns the extent to which young children's explanations for the existence of natural kinds rely on a teleological rationale: for example, rain is for watering the grass, or…

This mixed method study investigated the extent to which the use of a model built around student-led questioning and feedback improved the learner engagement and attainment of a cohort of students. It compared outcomes from an experimental with a control group of students in Key-Stage 3 using a set of parameters. It found that the experimental…

The purpose of this study was to explore (a) to what extent male and female science teachers pose different types of questions and (b) if the type of science question posed influences the extent to which boys or girls respond to them. Transcripts of the teacher-student interaction in a whole-class situation were analysed, with attention paid to…

Increasingly, instructors of large, introductory STEM courses are having students actively engage during class by answering multiple-choice concept questions individually and in groups. This study investigates the use of a technology-based tool that allows students to answer such questions during class. The tool also allows the instructor to…