The main objective of this intervention study was to investigate the effect of three teaching approaches, namely the traditional teaching method (TTM), a teacher-based demonstration experiment (TBDE) and a student hands-on experiment (SHE), on students' academic performance. A total number of 324 senior five students studying chemistry as one of…

This paper presents an innovative teaching approach that integrates photoelectric technology with analytical chemistry instruction through inquiry-based learning (IBL), using cerium as a selected analyte. With the advancement of science and technology, a strong foundation of basic knowledge and methodologies is crucial in analytical chemistry…

The recent Next Generation Science Standards recommend students have increased opportunities engaging in modeling work scientists do. Science classroom tasks include simple inquiry compared to more complex authentic inquiry that closely resembles authentic science. Science fair participation presents students with the opportunity to engage in…

Contemporary science teaching pedagogy in Namibia places a strong emphasis on fostering inquiry-based instruction and practical work in secondary school science education. In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the need to move beyond traditional, rote-based methods towards more learner-centred approaches that encourage active…

The process of method development is at the heart of analytical chemistry, yet direct experimental experience with the process is rarely taught in the undergraduate laboratory. We report here an experiment that uses rapid, safe, and inexpensive paper-based microfluidics with cell phone detection in order to facilitate the development of a…

This academic essay provides a strategy for teaching complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the classroom, a subject typically critiqued as unconventional and non-scientific. It demonstrates how students can enhance their critically reflective skills by examining polarizing and controversial medical topics, which are often considered by…

Blood flow through the cardiovascular system is governed by the same physical rules that govern the flow of water through domestic plumbing. Using this analogy in a teaching laboratory, a model of the cardiovascular system constructed of pumps and pipes was used to demonstrate the basic interactions of pressure, flow, and resistance in a regulated…

Background: Scientific thinking is an essential learning goal of science education and it can be fostered by inquiry learning. One important prerequisite for scientific thinking is procedural understanding. Procedural understanding is the knowledge about specific steps in scientific inquiry (e.g. formulating hypotheses, measuring dependent and…

Laboratory courses can serve as important avenues to equitably support introductory biology students to develop foundational scientific literacy skills while experiencing the authentic research process. We present a model for an equity-focused redesign of an introductory organismal biology laboratory course at a teaching institution with limited…

Students in the intermediate grades love to talk--but not necessarily about making sense of what they are learning. How do teachers design classrooms that cultivate productive discourse? How do they get out of the way and teach children to learn? First, let's give them something to talk about. Second, teachers need to teach them how to engage in…

In a series of 12 project-based learning lessons, a group of seven fifth-grade students who live 200 miles from the coast explored their personal connections to the ocean. After completing a unit on the role of water in Earth's surface processes, the students investigated ocean acidification and how this pervasive ocean problem impacts their local…

The authors of this article applied the determination of phenolic and flavonoid content in small berries to create a didactic cycle based on student-centered active learning (SCAL) in which students actively participated in the topic while studying and profile-forming as future biology and chemistry teachers. The fundamental part of the proposed…

Take a selection of balls and marbles along to a nearby playground slide and let students investigate factors that may influence how balls accelerate down an inclined plane. Students can make hypotheses in small groups, plan investigations to test multiple possible explanations and draw conclusions about the importance of different variables. The…

The results of an earlier four-year longitudinal research study on the development of experimental design skills led to the conclusion that 12-13 year old students probably need more help to design experiments than had been offered to them in that project. This paper reports the findings of the first year of a further four-year empirical research…

Instructional labs are being transformed to better reflect authentic scientific practice, often by removing aspects of pedagogical structure to support student agency and decision making. We explored how these changes impact men's and women's participation in group work associated with labs through clustering methods on the quantified behavior of…