This paper reports a pretest-posttest study about the impact of a teacher professional development (TPD) programme on primary school teachers' knowledge of and attitude towards inquiry-based learning. A pedagogical framework of inquiry phases and domains of scientific knowledge combined with hard and soft scaffolds formed the basis for the TPD…

This mixed-method study examined the influence of metacognitive awareness on the change in preservice chemistry teachers' understandings of gas behavior in the context of multirepresentational (MR) instruction. The goal was to describe the types of understanding of gas behavior held by a group of participants with high metacognitive awareness (MA)…

How pre-service teachers (PST) develop components of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an open question. Theoretically based on PCK and combined with student education in our outreach lab, we implemented a role-change approach in PST education. After theoretical and practical preparation, the PSTs change from the student role, to the tutor…

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and content knowledge (CK) are important dimensions of teachers' professional knowledge that are addressed in education programs for science teachers. In this article we present the structure, content, and evaluation of a preservice biology teachers' training program (N=173) to develop an elaborate understanding…

The current study investigates teachers' conception and reflection of computer programming from scratch in terms of technological and pedagogical standpoint. Mixed research approaches typically achievement tests and interviews were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data respectively. A total of twenty-one Mathematics and Science…

Research indicates there is a need for teachers to experience multiple mastery experiences with engineering teaching in order to improve teaching engineering self-efficacy. To prepare future K-5 teachers to teach the engineering design process, one science methods course integrated 2-day engineering mini-units into the class meeting and…

This study, based on the theory of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge investigated the effectiveness of introducing open source YouTube videos in the teaching and learning of the Chemistry topic 'Group Properties' at a high school in Lesotho. A quasi-experimental design was used for two conveniently selected Form D classes; one class used…

Developing students' systems thinking is an often-posed demand in education for sustainable development (ESD) and science literacy. Several studies have shown that systems thinking can be fostered in students of different education levels. Therefore, science teachers who are required to teach ESD-relevant topics should be proficient in systems…

Five standards-based science institutes (SI) were conducted between 2005 and 2016 to support improved content knowledge, pedagogy, and pedagogical content knowledge of in-service middle and high school science teachers in the area of biology. The SI were conducted for 90 hours during the summer and academic year. Content covered was related to…

Combined three-dimensional, haptic-enabled, virtual reality (3D HE VR) systems allow students to actively engage and explore various science concepts by leveraging user-friendly and immersive interfaces. Successful implementation of these learning tools in science classrooms hinges upon teachers' perceptions of the technology's potential as a…

This research aims at comparing the changes in factual, conceptual, and procedural knowledge of heat transfer in learning science using YouTube videos accompanied by discovery learning among fifth graders. A pre-and post-test experimental design was conducted by two different groups. One of the groups was randomly assigned to conduct discovery…

Topic specific pedagogical content knowledge (TSPCK) is the basis by which knowledge of subject matter of a particular topic is conveyed to students. This includes students' prior knowledge, curricular saliency, what makes a topic easy or difficult to teach, representations, and teaching strategies. The goal of this study is to assess the…

The Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) has been used to assess student understanding of introductory concepts of electricity and magnetism because many of the items on the CSEM have strong distractor choices which correspond to students' alternate conceptions. Instruction is unlikely to be effective if instructors do not know…

Two volunteer BEd student teachers in their fourth year of a BEd degree at a metropolitan university in the Western Cape of South Africa designed and taught lessons to two classes of the same age and ability in grade 7 (ages 12-13), using drama role-plays (intervention) and more conventional non-drama methods (control). Lessons were observed and…

Scientific reasoning competencies are relevant science competencies and therefore the development of assessment instruments for scientific reasoning competencies has become an integral part of science education research. However, some authors have questioned the validity of the instruments available so far, since their psychometric quality has not…