This article explores the challenges of enacting reform-oriented curriculum in science classrooms. We use the concept of figured worlds to analyze a case study of an eighth-grade science class where the teacher reported that the students were resistant to changes she was trying to make. By examining stimulated recall interviews with the teacher…

The rise of social media platforms and subsequent lack of traditional gatekeeping mechanisms have enabled the proliferation of scientific disinformation. Users attempting to properly evaluate scientific information and disinformation are immensely obstructed by media communication mechanisms such as filter bubbles and echo chambers. Given the…

This study explored the impact of authentic out-of-school learning on students' beliefs about their science learning efficacy and career aspirations. The learning activity, designed following an authentic learning framework, was led by research scientists. We examined how students' emotions, induced in an authentic scientific activity, mediated…

Phenomena-based approaches have become popular for elementary school teachers to engage children's innate curiosity in the natural world. However, integrating such phenomena-based approaches in existing science courses within teacher education programs present potential challenges for both preservice elementary teachers (PSETs) and for laboratory…

This article reports on analyses of the instructional practices of six middle- and high-school science teachers in the United States who participated in a research-practice partnership that aims to support reform science education goals at scale. All six teachers were well qualified, experienced, and locally successful--respected by students,…

For students who face marginalization in a discipline, counterspaces are safe spaces of refuge that allow them to express their multiple identities and foster their sense of belonging. While prior qualitative work on counterspaces has highlighted how and why these spaces support marginalized students, there is little quantitative work that…

This study sought to better understand how past science learning experiences affected preservice elementary teachers, both in terms of their own self-efficacy and their perceptions of science teaching and learning at the beginning of their science methods course. Following an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, this study first involved…

Attitude toward science has been recognized as highly influential in students' engagement with science and future career choices. Science is important in our everyday lives as well, in a society demanding more scientific vocations and higher levels of scientific literacy. There is little research on how attitudes develop and evolve at early ages,…

Over the past decades, a large body of research has examined students' magnitudes of evolution acceptance and related measurement issues resulting in questions concerning instruments' validity and operationalization. Until now, several studies investigated validity aspects of often-used evolution acceptance instruments and came to diverging…

Previous studies highlight the positive effects of science outreach labs, in particular on students' motivational variables. However, out-of-school learning is generally associated with high novelty and specific setting characteristics that can impact learning and development. Indeed, previous studies call for further research on students'…

In the past, students' participation in science competitions has been positively associated with their aspirations to pursue a career in science. Previous studies, however, were predominantly focused around successful competitors, overlooking the largest group of participants: those who are faced with early elimination. We therefore aimed to…

In this article, we explore how children of late elementary to middle school age, from low-income communities in an East-Central metropolitan area of Canada, described their interests in and attitudes toward science in an out-of-school science club program. We used the children's descriptions of emotional engagement to gain insights into the…

The development of three-dimensional learning among all K-12 student demographics remains a prominent goal for the field of science education. However, substantial research in science teacher education for urban populations showcases hurdles to overcome in order to achieve this goal, particularly for elementary teachers. Research shows that urban…

Meaningful participation in science and engineering practices requires that students make their thinking visible to others and build on one another's ideas. But sharing ideas with others in small groups and classrooms carries social risk, particularly for students from nondominant groups and communities. In this paper, we explore how students'…

Based on quantitative survey data collected from an inquiry-based general chemistry laboratory course, the current study used marginal models to evaluate changes in students' teamwork and problem-solving skills, attitudes to teamwork, and willingness to explore new issues before and after the course. The results suggest that introductory-level…