In addition to the continuing need for citizens who can address the challenges of "human" communities, growing concerns have arisen regarding "all" life on the planet. Indeed, one of our most urgent conditions is the decline of the environment upon which all life depends. Yet, despite our concerns, there remain vastly differing…

Biochemistry curricula present a particular challenge to undergraduate students with abstract concepts which can lead to misconceptions that impede learning. In particular, these students have difficulty understanding enzyme structure and function concepts. Targeted learning activities and three-dimensional (3D) physical models are proposed to…

Although testing is used mainly for assessing student learning, a new teaching strategy called concept-point recovery (CPR) makes testing a learning opportunity for engineering students to review errors and misconceptions. CPR allows students to regain points by reviewing wrong answers and explaining the solution process to the instructor to…

Although teachers are eager to facilitate community of inquiry (CoI) in their classrooms, they also fear being unable to convey the necessary knowledge to their students in an inquiry due to the inherent involvement of conflicting views, confusion, and a lack of strict definitions about the concepts. The author argues that the banking model of…

The concept of air-having pressure needs to be understood by students so that they can understand natural phenomena related to the air concept. The characteristic of the abstract concept of air having pressure leads students to misconceptions. The purpose of this study is to analyze changes in students' conceptions of the air-having pressure…

Many biology students struggle to learn about the process of meiosis and have particular difficulty understanding the molecular basis of crossing over and the importance of homologous pairing for proper segregation. To help students overcome these challenges, we designed an activity that uses a newly developed Chromosome Connections Kit® from 3-D…

A Computer-Aided Learning Package as Inquiry-Guided Learning (CALP/IGL) was implemented in a cooling tower experiment for 43 students enrolled in four sections of the Unit Operations Laboratory course in the chemical engineering program at Qatar University. The impact of this approach on the attainment of learning outcomes was evaluated. Results…

In this article, we describe some of the common misconceptions guests have expressed while visiting a Museum of Natural History and Science, along with ways in which museum educators had reacted to and/or responded to guests' misconceptions. Correcting commonly held misconceptions can be difficult, especially when guests are emotionally invested…

This paper describes an experience based on the use of an active method in which students of a basic physics course prepare multiple choice questions (MCQs) to prepare for exams in the subject. The objective of the research was to provide the students with a method that would enhance their desire to learn physics, and consequently lead to an…

To develop expertise, novice chemistry students require deliberate practice with immediate and thoughtful feedback. Whereas opportunities for practice are often abundant, opportunities for feedback tend to be much scarcer. To address this challenge, we collaborated with students to develop a flexible and scalable online platform called…

This study aimed to investigate the effects of different active teaching techniques on pre-school student teachers' concept learning and academic achievement. The study group consisted of 46 third year pre-school student teachers in a public university. Different active teaching methods were used during the single term Science Course, a compulsory…

Teachers' knowledge rooted in classroom practices guides their actions when dealing with a specific subject matter. To assess the quality of these practices, a close examination of the "classroom reality" is needed. The present study, which was carried out in Greece, investigates secondary science teachers' practices. To record these…

In response to STEM education reform efforts, many instructors have incorporated active learning into their courses. However, the relationship between instructor justification to students about the use of active learning and student perception of why instructors use active learning is largely unknown. To investigate instructor active learning…

This research investigated students' sources and causes of errors and misconception in solving routine problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of integers. This qualitative study involved observation of eight Year 7 classes and interviews with the respective classroom teachers. Sixteen Year 7 students who exhibit…

Climate change and climate denial have remained largely off the radar in literacy and social studies education. This book addresses that gap with the design of the "Climate Denial Inquiry Model" (CDIM) and clear examples of how educators and students can confront two forms of climate denial: "science denial" and "action…