Being scientifically literate is an essential twenty-first century skill for every individual navigating today's complex world and science inquiry skills are seen as an important capability of a scientific literate person. However, teaching science inquiry skills requires specific competences and is often challenging for teachers. Understanding…

Inquiry skills are universally recognised as being integral to a contemporary science education where students need to understand the nature of scientific practices as well as concepts. Although inquiry learning is a common practice among primary educators, the development and assessment of inquiry skills is far less practised. There is a need for…

This article provides insights into the experiences of two teachers who were part of a project centred on inquiry approaches to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. The project required teachers (from a range of different schools) to develop integrated STEM inquiry projects for their students. It brought together…

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is a requirement of school science education in Australia. Numerous student-centred strategies have been referred to as inquiry-based teaching (IBT), resulting in a lack of understanding of the exact nature of inquiry-based science learning within the science teaching profession. This article describes three essential…

Science curriculum and pedagogy offer ideal avenues for teaching young people the critical thinking skills they need to live in a post-truth world. Drawing on the theory of epistemic cognition, we present a selection of research-based pedagogies that have been shown to be effective in developing school students' understanding of knowledge and how…

The recent inclusion of the "Depth Study" in the New South Wales (NSW) Years 11 and 12 science curriculum has generally been well received by secondary science education leaders. The Depth Study is designed to present an opportunity for students to engage in inquiry-based learning (IBL). However, the integration of this new curriculum…

The Australian Curriculum (n.d.) describes chemistry as having three interrelated strands, Science Inquiry Skills, Science as a Human Endeavour and Science Understanding. It also states "... the three strands of the Australian Curriculum: Science should be taught in an integrated way". This article will explore a model for integrating…

In this paper, we explore how an intentionally planned learning environment, rich with material resources and inquiry questioning practices, supported young children's engagement with an integrated science and mathematics learning experience. A practitioner-researcher, named 'Jenny', from an Australian early year learning centre, partnered with…

An important element of STEAM education that teachers struggle with is the adoption and application of digital technologies. Digital technologies have the potential to enhance social inclusion and student-centred learning, and for this reason it is important for teachers across all levels of schooling to develop skills and confidence in this area…

In summarizing this report Danielle Spencer states: "Japan truly was transformational for me. At that time I saw myself as a nurse just pretending to be a teacher. The Australia-Japan Foundation (AJF), Japan exchange enabled me to be a teacher who used to be a nurse." How did this transformation come about? Each year, a national…

Smartphones are increasingly used in schools to achieve a number of educational outcomes; from developing measurement skills to enabling collaborative learning. When used as a measurement device in science classrooms, a few questions emerge. How good are the measurement capabilities of smartphones? Can smartphones lead to a more positive learning…

If you think of play as "the work of children" (Whitebread, Basilio, Kuvalja & Verma, 2012) then toys are surely the "tools of their trade". The involvement of scientific principles in how they work makes certain toys ideal stimuli for science investigations. This article describes a practical investigation suitable for…

In this article, the author describes a chemistry gas experiment that she developed with the intent of integrating inquiry and Problem-Based Learning (PBL). The lab activity follows the principles of Ambitious Science Teaching (AST). Teachers (1) engage students with important science ideas, (2) elicit students' ideas while making visible what…

Energy is one of the most complex yet central concepts taught in schools and is featured in the Australian Science Curriculum, as one of the six key organising ideas (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2015). The literature portrays a multitude of complications associated with teaching energy (see Millar, 2005 for a…

An invitation to be part of a small research project with science teacher educators focusing on the Australian Curriculum--Science as a Human Endeavour strand provided an opportunity for professional learning in science for an early career teacher working with Year 1-2 students. This article explores how the use of students' photography of local…