Inquiry-based practical work (IBPW) is one of the innovative instructional strategies in science education. Science teacher preparation programmes play a role in preparing preservice teachers to facilitate IBPW in classrooms located in different school settings, including multiple-deprived classrooms. The adverse conditions against the successful…

Computational thinking (CT) is one of the systematic tools in problem solving and widely accepted as an important skill in the 21st century. This study aimed to identify the effectiveness of the Chemistry Computational Thinking (CT-CHEM) Module on achievement in chemistry. This study also employed a quasi-experimental design with the participation…

Today, individuals need a solid understanding of how earth as a system works in order to understand and develop solutions for science-based issues affecting societies on a global scale such as natural disasters, global warming or COVID-19 pandemic. Humans also deliberate space investigations, such as interplanetary travels and life in space.…

This research aimed to design an instructional module to teach light diffraction by a grating to secondary students applying a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-integrated approach. Based on this approach, instructional management integrated the disciplines of physics and mathematics with engineering design process…

Communities develop social languages in which utterances take on culturally specific situated meanings. As physics students interact in their classroom, they can learn the broader physics community's social language by co-constructing meanings with their instructors. We provide an exposition of a systematic and productive use of idiosyncratic,…

This article describes how a class of year 9 (age 13-14) students engaged in a research-informed and negotiated action science project to address socio-scientific issues. The project was informed by the 'STEPWISE' curriculum framework. Evidence suggests that students benefited from collaborative problem-solving, developing confidence, motivation…

Experiential learning was introduced to support a child's concept development towards evolution scientific literacy. This study examined the effect of an experiential learning model (The Mobile Natural Science Learning -- MNSL) on the knowledge of 4th grade primary school students in Slovenia, during natural science school lessons at the seashore…

We previously reported that students' concept-building approaches, identified a priori using a cognitive psychology laboratory task, extend to learning complex science, technology, engineering, and mathematics topics. This prior study examined student performance in both general and organic chemistry at a select research institution, after…

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of an intervention on students' achievement and motivation. The intervention was in the form of an instructional approach named Dual-Approach Instruction since it was designed to facilitate both the cognitive and non-cognitive aspects of students' learning. The intervention effects were…

We examined physics graduate teaching assistants' views about introductory physics problem "types," i.e., different ways of posing the same underlying physics problem, within the context of a semester-long teaching assistant (TA) professional development course. Here, we focus on TAs' views about two types of broken-into-parts problems…

Incorporating computational thinking (CT) ideas into core subjects, such as mathematics and science, is one way of bringing early computer science (CS) education into elementary school. Minimal research has explored how teachers can translate their knowledge of CT into practice to create opportunities for their students to engage in CT during…

This article describes an unit that was created for first-grade students using both the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in a student-centered, problem-based approach. The multifaceted classroom unit combined with a take-home field study provides students…

We introduce a template to (i) scaffold the problem solving process for students in the physics 1 course, and (ii) serve as a generic rubric for measuring how expertlike students are in their problem solving. This template is based on empirical studies of the problem solving practices of expert scientists and engineers, unlike most existing…

Enzyme kinetics is an essential part of biochemistry programs, which have been gaining importance in recent years for their applications in biotechnology and biomedicine. The teaching and learning of these issues has been traditionally hampered by difficulties that stem mainly from the dynamic and mathematical nature of the topic and the…

The United States is one of only three countries in the world that remain uncommitted to the metric system. Perhaps to policymakers the decision to hang on to miles, pounds, and gallons is one of tradition. However, as a physics teacher I have seen firsthand how growing up with U.S. Customary Units (commonly called by the pseudonym "British…