In the spring of 2018 the Northern California/Nevada Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers was alerted to a local high school's plans to eliminate physics for the following school year. As part of the campaign to support the school's efforts to sustain physics in the following year, the physics offerings from the surrounding…

We describe a paper-based microfluidic device for iron(III) assay in an applied instrumental analysis laboratory. Simple and convenient devices were fabricated by the students using patterning of filter paper to investigate three different procedures: drawing a boundary with eyeliner or wax pen; drawing a boundary with waterproof permanent marker…

A set of visualizations developed for the purpose of explaining solid state lattice structures is presented in this paper. The visualizations provide students with the option to view stacking patterns, extended structures, and individual unit cells for simple, body-centered and face-centered cubic, and hexagonal close-packed structures.…

Studies on teacher education have given increasing attention to pedagogical content knowledge (PCK): the knowledge necessary for teaching specific content as a theoretical construct. As a component of the teacher's professional knowledge base, orientations toward teaching science (OTS) are critical to developing the PCK needed for inquiry-based…

A bachelor's degree program in chemistry typically starts with basic concepts in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Those principles are very important because they pave the ground for future advanced studies and, therefore, one needs to present them in a clear but rigorous way. One example is provided by the mathematical notion of an iterative…

The National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education (NSSME) has provided periodic snapshots of K-12 science instruction in the United States for over 40 years. Study topics include teacher background and beliefs, professional learning opportunities, course offerings, instructional objectives and activities, resources for instruction, and…

Described here is a well established opensource geophysics project to monitor atmospheric infrasound 24/7. It employs a modern digital, I[superscript 2]C enabled differential pressure sensor--unlike the older analog devices more commonly used. Python software automatically uploads plots whilst data is stored in standard ".mseed" format…

This article reports on how increasing understanding of the morphology of science vocabulary, by introducing and using affixes, improved students' ability to recognise key words in examination questions and link these to prior knowledge. As a result, students attempted far more questions and the quality of answers they provided was significantly…

Academic vocabulary networks were examined in 3 elementary grades textbook programs (first through fifth grade) in 3 domains--science, mathematics, and social studies. Within each program, a given network consisted of a focal domain-specific academic word and the collection of words from all grades that overlapped in meaning with the focal word.…

The private company SpaceX regularly launches satellites into geostationary orbits. SpaceX posts videos of these flights with telemetry data displaying the time from launch, altitude, and rocket speed in real time. In this paper this telemetry information is used to determine the velocity boost of the rocket as it leaves its circular parking orbit…

Students struggle with observing scientifically and connecting observations to scientific theory. This study investigates how students actually use observation in rock classification -- a classical practical task in science education. To describe the level of students' use of observation, data was collected by videotaping 19 small student groups…

The main purpose of this study is to explore the epistemological problems underlying pre-service chemistry teachers' aims in using practical work, "i.e.," individual or small group object manipulation or observation, in school science. Twenty-two pre-service chemistry teachers participated in this study. Qualitative data collection tools…

Many teachers struggle to provide equitable opportunities for students with special educational needs (SEN) to learn science concepts in the inclusive classroom. This study examines the experience of teaching in an inclusive classroom using a conceptual change approach, the Thinking Frames Approach (TFA), incorporating the use of discrepant…

Research-based assessment instruments (RBAIs) are ubiquitous throughout both physics instruction and physics education research. The vast majority of analyses involving student responses to RBAI questions have focused on whether or not a student selects correct answers and using correctness to measure growth. This approach often undervalues the…

This study explores the effect of problem-based learning on students' lateral thinking skills in biology subjects, the concept of environmental change. This quantitative research uses a quasi-experimental model with a pre-test post-test control group design. The population in this study were students of class X MIPA Integrated High School Riyadlul…