The purpose of this study was to evaluate pre-service teachers' epistemologies of scientific models and their model formation in a model-based inquiry environment. Theoretical underpinnings of this paper are the following: Pre-service teachers' epistemologies of models are structured as their beliefs, can be reshaped by instructional experiences,…

Discrepant events, contrary to previous to be true, are events which has unexpected results used to compare students together with their beliefs and to attract their attention They are used for the purpose of attracting students' attention, encouraging them to think about a topic, stimulating them to work out a contradictory case by changing usual…

This paper attempts to investigate the understanding of the law of mechanical energy conservation using a guided inquiry approach. A simple hands-on model was constructed and used to demonstrate the law of mechanical energy conservation. A total of 30 grade ten students from one of the middle secondary schools in western Bhutan participated in…

Instructional videos have been developed to engage pre-service teachers to learn how to teach scientific approach in science classroom. This study aimed to improve preservice teachers' awareness of scientific approach in science classroom through instructional video along with their responses. Thirty two pre-service science teachers from…

This study examines teacher discourse strategies used in kindergarten inquiry-based science learning as part of the Scientific Literacy Project (SLP) (Mantzicopoulos, Patrick & Samarapungavan, 2005). Four public kindergarten science classrooms were chosen to implement science teaching strategies using a guided-inquiry approach. Data were…

One approach to address preservice teachers' (PSTs) often negative associations with science is through the promotion of wonder. This study investigated the impacts that engagement with science wonderings had on PSTs at a large Australian metropolitan university. Evidence from this case study indicated that engagement with wonder cultivated a…

Developing problem solving skills is often accepted as a desirable goal in many educational settings. However, there is little evidence to support that students are better problem solvers after graduating. The students can solve routine problems but they confronted difficulties when adapting their prior knowledge for the solution of new problems.…

A Chinese version of the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI) was used to study the students' perceptions of the actual and preferred laboratory learning environments in Hong Kong junior secondary science lessons. Valid responses of the SLEI from 1932 students of grade 7 to grade 9 indicated that an open-ended inquiry approach seldom…

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of an instructional intervention on enhancement the pre-service science teachers' (PSTs) science process skills (SPSs) and to identify problems in using SPSs through Laboratory Applications in Science Education-I course (LASE-I). One group pretest-posttest pre-experimental design was employed. An…

In addition to recommending inquiry as the primary approach to teaching science, developers of recent reform efforts in science education have also strongly suggested that teachers develop a sound understanding of the nature of science. Most studies on teachers' NOS conceptions and inquiry beliefs investigated these concepts of teachers' NOS…

Current approaches in Science Education attempt to enable students to develop an understanding of the nature of science, develop fundamental scientific concepts, and develop the ability to structure, analyze, reason, and communicate effectively. Students pose, solve, and interpret scientific problems, and eventually set goals and regulate their…

The PISA performance of Hong Kong has prompted this study to investigate if scientific literacy (SL) of Hong Kong students can be improved further through a high school biology course employing the STSE approach. A STSE course was developed in accordance to the contexts of Hong Kong and a framework for the assessment of scientific literacy was…

This study reports on the trial of a school-based professional development process aimed at helping science teachers improve their inquiry-based science teaching skills. This process focuses on developing the pedagogical content knowledge of teachers through peer collaboration, under the guidance of a teacher educator. A multi-method interpretive…

Science explores nature and the most authentic way of introducing science is creating learning environments in the nature and let children make their own discoveries in the nature as real scientists. Science camps would be an opportunity for this kind of science education. This study introduces a science camp and reports findings regarding its…

The aim of this study is to analyze the action research undertaken by Khan as a teacher researcher in a private school as part of the degree requirement of his M.Ed. program in Teacher Education at the Aga Khan University, Institute for Educational Development. The purpose of this analysis undertaken by the first author and supervisor of the study…