The epistemic components of science are included in instruction through the three-dimensional learning of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students use the Science & Engineering Practices to engage the Disciplinary Core Ideas through the perspective of the Crosscutting Concepts. The NGSS focus on the epistemic aspects that all…

Alignment to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is essential in efforts to interpret the standards and to compare curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment efforts with respect to the standards. However, relatively little work has explored the alignment implications of NGSS. This article is a conceptual analysis that gives an overview of…

This research explores how scaffolding students' reflections on scientific modeling criteria influence the students' views on scientific models, development of explanatory models, and understanding of scientific models. This research recruited treatment groups and comparison groups in middle schools and high schools. The treatment groups adopted a…

This empirical study investigates factors that influence the implementation of science inquiry in the education systems of Turkey, Israel, Sweden and the Czech Republic. Data was collected by means of recordings of science experts' discussions as part of an EU-funded project called Science-Teacher Education Advanced Methods (2009-2012). Results of…

There is on-going international interest in the relationships between assessment instruments, students' understanding of science concepts and context-based curriculum approaches. This study extends earlier research showing that students can develop connections between contexts and concepts--called "fluid transitions"--when studying…

There is a long-standing tension in science education between studying topics of relevance in students' everyday and future lives and formal courses structured for progressive development of key concepts and knowledge. It applies to some degree at all stages of school education, but more starkly at the secondary level than primary and has surfaced…

This paper proposes a reconsideration of use of computer simulations in science education. We discuss three studies of the use of science simulations for undergraduate distance learning students. The first one, "The Driven Pendulum" simulation is a computer-based experiment on the behaviour of a pendulum. The second simulation, "Evolve" is…

The results of a curriculum evaluation can be used in inservice sessions as a focal point for decision-making by classroom teachers. Among the questions that may be asked during a curriculum evaluation are: (1) How well do students achieve the stated objectives of the curriculum?; and (2) At what points in the instructional sequence does…

Discussed is an approach to learning in which students are given the opportunity to discuss and rationalize the conflict between the students' existing misconceptions and the phenomenon to be studied. Curriculum materials for a unit on acids and bases were developed using this strategy. (KR)

Describes results of a study which examined the interests of secondary students in certain aspects of physics and technology. Presents results on the mean number of student choices of theoretical and practical topics and student preferences for type of physics lesson. Examines student residence and spare-time interests as variables. (GS)

Incorporated are abstracts of papers presented at the annual conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching held in Detroit, Michigan, March 27-29, 1973. The papers were presented during a three-day period. The first day's presentations related to the topics of simulation techniques, pictorial communication research,…

Many questions of interest to teachers, educational researchers, curriculum developers, and policymakers in science education can be asked about classroom environment. Does a classroom's environment affect student learning attitudes? What is the impact of a new curriculum or teaching method on the nature of a classroom's environment? Can teachers…

Students training to become teachers of science to children aged between 7 to 11 years used principles of reflective practice linked to participatory approaches in their curriculum planning and evaluation. A central part of the work was to enable them to introduce aspects of education for sustainability to their pupils. Students first undertook a…

The purpose for conducting this evaluation was to gather and report information on the degree to which the K-6 Science program for San Diego (California) City School children was meeting the needs for which it was designed. The goals of the evaluation include the following: (1) to describe the K-6 science program as it currently exists in…

The research related to laboratory work in science instruction is reviewed in this position paper. The history of the laboratory is outlined from its roots in the nineteenth century, and the goals of the laboratory are enumerated from a review of the literature. Research findings are critically analyzed regarding the effectiveness of laboratory…