Despite the abundance of literature discussing Kuhnian views, it is rare to find studies that comprehensively compare the arguments of Kuhnian supporters and skeptics. This study aims to fill the gap by providing a comparative review and synthesis between the two groups of views using the systematic literature review (SLR) analysis technique. The…

Science concept formation has a long history in early childhood educational research. Most of the studies in the field focus on the way children form science concepts as preschoolers. However, less is known about the nature of science concept formation for children under 3 years of age. This study explores how early childhood teachers create the…

Mindset is a construct of interest for challenging learning environments, as science courses often are, in that, it has implications for behavioral responses to academic challenges. Previous work examining mindset in science learning contexts has been primarily quantitative in nature, limiting the theoretical basis for mindset perspectives…

In recent years, adult education program closures have led to a historically low presence for adult education in U.S. research institutions. For a research-to-practice field, the implications of this are considerable. One reason for this development is the field's abandonment of what McIntyre calls the scientific attitude: a commitment to evidence…

Whilst teaching about the nature of science (NOS) is a significant goal of science education, there remains debate about specifying the NOS and appropriate pedagogies and approaches to researching the NOS. A neglected, but conceptually and practically significant, problem is the proliferation of NOS-related learning goals such as NOS beliefs,…

Science education researchers and curriculum documents have advocated scientific inquiry for more than six decades; however, inconsistent findings concerning its effects on students' learning outcomes have been revealed in recent analyses of large-scale international assessment data (e.g., the Programme for International Student Assessment…

The paper presents the results of a survey conducted among preschool teachers in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia, the aim of which was to investigate the attitudes of the participants towards the role of science in education and society. Recent global trends in economic development have introduced new educational concepts in national curricula…

Across decades, science educators have invested in curricula that presume scientific unity. The phrases "habits of mind, scientific method, processes of science, inquiry skills, nature of science, practices of science" reflect this obsession. However, historians look with skepticism at universal notions of science and endorse…

STEM education has experienced significant growth due to its pivotal role in innovation and economic development. While cognitive factors like prior knowledge are known predictors of STEM success, non-cognitive factors, including attitudes and demographics, also play vital roles. However, there is a notable scarcity of research focusing on the…

Educators cannot overlook the affect's potential for students' educational success. In this study, affective analogies are proposed as a didactic resource to foster students' affect for chemistry learning and positive attitudes towards the physics-chemistry subject. To examine the influence of the affective analogies on it, we grouped contents of…

Science texts tend to privilege the voices, perspectives, and practices of White males (e.g., Ford, 2006), reinforcing widely-held perceptions of scientists as White men. This narrow portrayal of who "does science" discourages BIPOC or female students from building a science identity (Archer et al., 2015), with many such students also…

This study aimed to determine the levels of pre-service teachers' nature of science (NOS) knowledge, assess their pseudo-scientific beliefs, and examine the relationship between aspects of their NOS knowledge and these beliefs. It also aimed to determine whether NOS knowledge and pseudo-scientific beliefs depended on the discipline and gender. A…

Undergraduate general chemistry courses are often perceived in a negative light by students. Student attitudes towards chemistry play a significant role in their success in chemistry and retention in STEM altogether. Research has shown in K-12 classrooms that care-based instruction strategies can help to improve student attitudes towards…

Enabling students to learn about science is essential for science education. Students are expected to not only gain scientific knowledge but also need to develop a deep understanding of science. One approach to equipping students with a sense of science is to present science as a living collective human enterprise. As essential educational…

In this article, I present an analysis of the epistemic value of the students' conceptions, as employed in the current constructivist research. I focus on the conceptions about natural kinds. Since natural kind terms are a crucial part of the discourse of the natural sciences, my conclusions are particularly relevant in science education. To…