This research examined how a teacher's discussion of the strands of scientific proficiencies changed over the course of an inquiry cycle as students engaged in a complex, technology-enhanced inquiry learning environment called "PlantingScience" (PS). Our research is descriptive in nature and attempts to deconstruct the complexity of…

The development of scientifically literate citizens begins in the elementary school. Yet elementary school teachers are ill prepared to teach science (Trygstad, Smith, Banilower, Nelson, & Horizon Research, Inc., 2013). The research base on teacher preparation finds that programs designed to prepare elementary teachers are inadequate in…

A convergent mixed methods research study was used to investigate whether or not undergraduate students who participated in a problem-based learning (PBL) laboratory environment improved their self-efficacy beliefs in chemistry. The Chemistry Attitude and Experience Questionnaire (CAEQ) was used as a pre- and post-test to determine changes in…

The purpose of this study is to introduce a problem-based learning (PBL) scenario that elementary school science teachers in middle school (5th-8th grades) can use in their in-service training. The scenario treats the subjects of heat, temperature and thermal expansion within the scope of the 5th and 6th grade science course syllabi and has been…

Designing inquiry-based science lessons can be a challenge for secondary school teachers. In this study we evaluated the development of in-service teachers' lesson plans as they took part in a 10-month professional development course in Peru which engaged teachers in the design of inquiry-based lessons. At the beginning, most teachers designed…

Students commencing studies in biochemistry must transfer and build on concepts they learned in chemistry and biology classes. It is well established, however, that students have difficulties in transferring critical concepts from general chemistry courses; one key concept is "energy." Most previous work on students' conception of energy…

National and state educational mandates require students achieve proficiency in not only science content, but also "science inquiry", or those process skills associated with science (National Research Council, 2011; Next Generation Science Standards, 2013). Science inquiry instruction has been shown to improve student achievement and…

In Life Sciences education internationally, including South Africa, the study of animal and organ morphology has traditionally involved dissections since the early nineteenth century. The major purpose of this study was to investigate how the engagement of learners with animal organ dissections may influence the development of problem-solving…

Over the past 50 years, considerable research has been dedicated to chemistry education. In evaluating principal chemistry courses in higher education, educators have noted the learning process for first-year general chemistry courses may be challenging. The current study investigated perceptions of faculty, students and administrators on…

An activity involving analysis of art in biology courses was designed with the goals of piquing undergraduates' curiosity, broadening the ways in which college students meaningfully engage with course content and concepts, and developing aspects of students' higher-level thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. To meet these…

Introducing Problem Based Learning (PBL) to a cohort of science education pre-service teachers enabled them to engage in a widely used learning and teaching strategy helpful to align university courses with the professional work they are expected to undertake on graduation. Almost fifty pre-service teachers participated in the study, focussed on…

The purpose of this concurrent mixed methods study was to examine the collaborative relationship between scientists and science teachers and to incorporate and advocate scientific literacy based on past and current educational theories such as inquiry based teaching. The scope of this study included archived student standardized test scores,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the knowledge, skills, and dispositions enabled for elementary school participants in two summer herpetology programs, one in North Carolina and one in Florida. An additional purpose of this study was to examine the normative scientific practices in which participants engaged and to describe how these…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…