Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were developed by 26 lead states with NSTA, AAAS, NRC, and Achieve in 2013 to provide a new vision for the teaching of science in U.S. schools. Teachers' applications have been mainly concentrated on efforts to align the current practices with the standards. Elementary science teachers need to use…

The main objective of this study is to examine teachers' perceptions of their approach to help learners to develop critical thinking and consistency of their classroom practices with their perceptions. The study was conducted with Moroccan primary school teachers, and to achieve our goal, data in the form of class observation and interviews were…

Data from PISA and TIMSS have recently fuelled the debate on the efficacy of Inquiry-Based Science Teaching (IBST). Some analyses of these data show that the effects of different scientific activities related to IBST carried out with students vary according to the frequency of their implementation. Extending this research, the present study…

Few studies have examined how professional learning communities (PLCs) engage in collaborative inquiry over multiple years. This longitudinal study explored how a team of high school science teachers collaborated with researchers and district-based coaches in a PLC over 4 years. We examined (1) how the PLC, which was situated in a culturally and…

The need for quality science education has long been established, but despite reform after reform, it remains a current concern. What we know as good teaching is not happening, perhaps because there is an increase in science teachers using alternative certification programs to enter the field. This lack of formal training causes teachers to have a…

There are situations where teachers accustomed to years of traditional teaching are tasked with implementing inquiry-based science teaching in schools nationwide, with few professional developments to change their self-efficacy. The implicit expectations are that teachers' self-efficacy will improve as they implement inquiry-based practices over…

The purpose of this research study was to investigate West Virginia middle school science teachers' perceptions regarding inquiry-based instruction.Teacher efficacy level, extent of use, and supports and obstacles in regard to inquiry-based instruction were considered. In addition, demographic relationships were explored in comparison with…

This qualitative study investigates the processes by which science and math teachers in high-need, urban schools develop a sense of professional identity, agency, and group membership in the context of instructional reform. Focusing on the experiences of two teachers, the paper explores both obstacles and affordances that teachers encounter when…

Teachers' beliefs are strong predictors of their practices. They guide how teachers understand the implementation of effective inquiry-based lessons. The cross-case analysis indicated that the fundamental problems observed in many Thai pre-service science teachers' classroom inquiries stemmed from their beliefs on teaching science. Although the…

Despite the widespread availability and frequency of use of technological tools in the classrooms, there is little empirical research on examining the teaching practices and how teachers use technology to support scientific inquiry. This multi-case study examined the teaching practices of two science teachers and how they used the technology to…

This study investigated if student placement in a primary grade 1-3 classroom with a teacher who had been trained in a U.S. science Framework-aligned [National Research Council. (2012). "A framework for K-12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts and core ideas." The National Academies Press] professional development science…

This forum article contributes to the understanding of how science teachers' identity is related to their worldviews, cultural values and educational philosophies, and to eco-transformation of science education. Special focus is put on "reform-minded" science teachers. The starting point is the paper "Science education reform in…

This study aims to measure science teachers' perception about their students' practices in science class, and to measure their model of inquiry teaching. The sample consisted of 127 middle school science teachers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 65 males and 62 females, in the school year 2016/2017, and utilized a questionnaire with two parts, 11 items…

The purpose of this article is to provide a review of empirical studies investigating the impact of professional learning communities (PLCs) on science teachers' practices and knowledge. Across 14 articles that satisfied the definition we embraced, most were devoted to the change in science teaching practices, disciplinary content knowledge (DCK)…

This article reports the results of a randomized control trial of a semester-long intervention designed to promote ninth-grade science students' use of text-based investigation to create explanatory models of biological phenomena. The main research question was whether the student participants in the intervention outperformed the students in the…