This longitudinal study examined the role of metaconceptual awareness in the change and the durability of preservice teachers' conceptual understandings over the course of several months. Sixteen preservice early childhood teachers participated in the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to reveal the participants' conceptual…

Children naturally delight in the sounds created with their bodies, including their own shrieks and shrills. On the playground and in the classroom, young children fill the air with stories, mimicked animal and car sounds, word games, and songs. Babies are aware of their basic cries of hunger and more developed babbling. Ears and brains constantly…

Teaching students to make daily weather observations is one way educators assist them as they learn to dress appropriately. In addition, it provides a natural and developmentally appropriate link between science and other curriculum areas, such as literacy and language development. The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead…

This study investigated the predictive ability of an intentional learning model in the change of preservice early childhood teachers' conceptual understanding of lunar phases. Fifty-two preservice early childhood teachers who were enrolled in an early childhood science methods course participated in the study. Results indicated that the use…

A bunny rabbit playfully hops across the wall. Then hands realign and fingers shift to make a hawk soar toward the ceiling. Most children have enjoyed the delightful experience of playing with shadow puppets. The authors build on this natural curiosity to help students link shadows to complex astronomical concepts such as seasons. The…

The purpose of this study was to describe four- to six-year-old children's understandings of the mechanism of rainfall and to reveal possible differences due to age. A total of 22 children participated in the study (mean age = 60.4 months; range 48-73 months), including 14 boys and 8 girls, all from middle-SES families. To reveal children's…

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to assess college students' efficacy beliefs for conceptual change and to examine the psychometric properties of the instrument. Participants were 692 students. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized single factor structure of Efficacy Beliefs for Conceptual…

This paper discusses the benefits and limitations of using children's literature in introducing science concepts to young children. The manuscript also provides an overview of preschool science standards of 12 states and presents lists of appropriate children's literature suitable to use in teaching science concepts targeted in those preschool…

This study investigated inservice PreK to Grade two teachers' knowledge of some earth and space science concepts before and after a short-term teacher institute. A one-group pre-test-post-test design was used in the current study. Earth science concepts targeted during the professional development included properties of rocks and soils, and the…

This study investigated the conceptual pathways of 19 Grade 11 introductory chemistry students (age 16-17) as they participated in a multirepresentational instruction on the particulate nature of matter (PNM). This study was grounded in contemporary conceptual change theory, in particular, research on students' conceptual pathways that focuses on…

This ethnographic study explored aspects of how the natural sciences were represented in a Reggio Emilia-inspired laboratory preschool. The natural sciences as a discipline--a latecomer to preschool curricula--and the internationally known approach, Reggio Emilia, interested educators and researchers, but there was little research about science in…

This study explored young children's understandings of targeted lunar concepts, including when the moon can be observed, observable lunar phase shapes, predictable lunar patterns, and the cause of lunar phases. Twenty-one children (ages 7-9 years) from a multi-aged, self-contained classroom participated in this study. The instructional…

This mixed methods study described preservice teachers' conceptions of tides and explored the efficacy of integrating online data into inquiry-based instruction. Data sources included a multiple-choice assessment and in-depth interviews. A total of 79 participants in secondary, middle, and early childhood teacher education programs completed the…

The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the misconceptions of students with visual impairments about seasonal change. Students who participated in traditional instruction exhibited alternative conceptions before and after instruction, whereas those who participated in inquiry-based instruction had alternative conceptions before…

This mixed-methods investigation compared the effectiveness of three instructional approaches in achieving desired conceptual change among early childhood preservice teachers (n = 157). Each of the three treatments employed inquiry-based instruction on moon phases using data collected from: (1) the planetarium software program, Starry Night[TM],…