This research identifies a problem of practice with standardized science test scores declining over the last eight years. The Sea Turtle Elementary School for the Creative Arts (STESCA; pseudonym) schedule allowed 150 minutes per week for science instruction, compared with 450 minutes per week for mathematics instruction. Science instruction has…

Background: In England, there is a growing need to improve the lives of secondary school students who are defined as disadvantaged and to support these students in their attainment and attitudes to secondary school science. Purpose: This paper reports on a project designed to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds by pairing them with…

We present results of an experimental study of an urban, museum-based science teacher PD programme. A total of 125 teachers and 1676 of their students in grades 4-8 were tested at the beginning and end of the school year in which the PD programme took place. Teachers and students were assessed on subject content knowledge and attitudes towards…

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the Problem Based Learning (PBL) units developed by a large suburban school district in the mid-Atlantic for the middle school gifted science curriculum on: a) students' performance on standardized tests in middle school Science, as measured by a sample of relevant test questions from a…

The purpose of this qualitative evaluative case study was to gain insight into how students perceived the efficacy of using games to address their science literacy concerns. Scientists in the United States are concerned with the lack of science literacy. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires proficiency in reading, mathematics, language…

This year-long, quasi-experimental study investigated the impact of the use of netbook computers and interactive science software on fifth-grade students' science learning processes, academic achievement, and interest in further science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) study within a linguistically diverse school district in…

With the advent of the Internet and the rapid growth of educational software, high schools are applying new instructional strategies with their students, including online and hybrid education. Hybrid education combines face-to-face encounters with online methods; students attend classroom sessions with their teachers and peers, and they engage…

Student attitudes toward science and content achievements were examined in three secondary Biology I classrooms using an environmentally place-based curriculum as well as a traditional curriculum. Student attitudes were measured using Likert-scale science attitude surveys administered at the beginning of the school year and once again following…

Based on PISA 2009 data, this article studies the relationship between students' computer use and their achievement in reading, mathematics and science in 23 countries. After having categorised computer use into a set of different activities according to the skills they involve, we correlate students' PISA test-scores with an index capturing the…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether there is a difference in high school students' achievement and retention on standardized tests between students who participate in inquiry-based laboratory activities and those that participate in traditional style laboratory activities. Additionally, student and teacher opinions of…

The researchers wanted to continue in their university's previous study of nature awareness and science achievement, specifically examining the effects of nature in the achievement of seventh-grade students. This further study offered valuable insight to the inconclusive findings of previous researchers of nature awareness and science achievement.…

We use a construct-based assessment approach to measure learning progression of energy concepts across physical, life, and earth science contexts in middle school grades. We model the knowledge integration construct in six levels in terms of the numbers of ideas and links used in student-generated explanations. For this study, we selected 10 items…

One of the ultimate goals of policy makers is to enable citizens to take advantage of a globalised world economy. This is leading them to focus on the improvement of education policies, ensuring the quality of service provision, a more equitable distribution of learning opportunities and stronger incentives for greater efficiency in schooling.…

This study investigates the effects of integrating literacy instruction with biology coursework on high school student learning. It would investigate the relationship between the growth in reading achievement and biology learning. It will target schools serving especially large populations of African American and Latino students. The project will…

This study investigated student perceptions of the 7th and 8th grade Adventist science education program and their relationship to achievement in science as defined by performance on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Findings revealed that students held generally poor perceptions of science education. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed 8…