Science education policies and standards have called for educators to teach students about the Nature of Science (NOS) and engage them in Culturally Relevant Science Teaching (CRST), which requires critical shifts away from traditional science teaching. As such, teachers are being asked to possess or take up conceptions of science that challenge…

The BSCS 5E Instructional Model, an elaboration of the well-known and accepted three-part learning cycle, is a five-part approach to incorporating inquiry-based, active learning in the classroom. Developed in 1987 by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, "the 5Es" is a popular K-20 instructional practice, and as such, the Biological…

This action research case study explored the ability of three high school chemistry students to grow in their understanding of nature of science (NOS) during its explicit-reflective inclusion in two unit chapters on bonding (ionic compounds followed by covalent molecules). Students completed a pre, post and delayed Views of Nature of Science Form…

Intellectual demands of learning outcomes in the intended curriculum have always been a concern across the field of science education. In particular, the representation of those learning outcomes stipulated by the intended curriculum in science textbooks has become a big issue for both science curriculum studies and science teaching practice. To…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) demand that science educators shift from traditional to NGSS teaching and learning. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the change process of shifting from traditional one-dimensional teaching to NGSS three-dimensional teaching and learning. A survey was sent to all science…

This study explored a middle school science teacher's curricular sensemaking in interaction with their use of an educative storyline curriculum, aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards, that was intentionally designed for more opportunities for students' scientific sensemaking. Using a phenomenological case study methodology, we examined…

Herbaria, collections of preserved plant specimens, have existed for 500 years as repositories of information about plants. Many of these collections are now being digitized, making them available to a much broader audience including students and teachers. Specimens can be used in a variety of different contexts in teaching biology, including from…

This paper describes how plate tectonics and rock genesis, two topics that are typically addressed separately in secondary Earth science classes, can be taught together as an integrated system. We define the TecRocks Reasoning Framework, developed to support student reasoning about rock formation situated in the context of plate tectonics. We also…

Understanding why teachers teach the way they do is important especially in a time of curriculum reforms. Hence, the aim of this research is to unpack the secondary school physical science teachers' beliefs on the purposes and goals of science teaching (PGST) and to check the alignment of their beliefs on PGST with constructivism. A convergent…

There has been a growing emphasis on integrating green and sustainable chemistry (GSC) into the curriculum. Unfortunately, there is yet to be a nationwide, uniform decision of which aspects should be included or how, leaving individual instructors or institutions to decide whether--and how--to address GSC knowledge. Furthermore, faculty nationwide…

It is 157 years since Mendel presented his results on hybridisation in peas to the Brünn Society for Natural Science. The discipline of genetics has dramatically changed since then, with technological advancements revealing multifactorial causation and trait variability. Whilst none of this complexity featured in the discovery of classical…

Background: There is a growing view that 'Big Ideas of science education' are useful for teaching science but there is not much knowledge of how teachers work with them. Purpose: This study explores the conceptualisation and practice of the use of Big Ideas of science education by primary and secondary teachers in Chile. Sample: A total of 63…

We developed a curriculum for an upper-level molecular biology course-based undergraduate research laboratory class funded by a National Science Foundation CAREER grant that focuses on identifying new small proteins in the bacterium, "Escherichia coli." Our CURE class has been continually offered each semester for the last 10 years, with…

The study examined how well Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO)-based formative evaluations might improve students' comprehension in the context of science education, with an emphasis on seismic events like earthquakes. Using a mixed-method research design, the study assesses students' entry understanding, how they advance through…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are being increasingly implemented to broaden the opportunities for undergraduate students to engage in authentic research across STEM disciplines including chemistry. The present review synthesizes the literature on chemistry CUREs, encompassing 68 articles published between 2016 and 2022…