In this keynote address presented at the 2008 National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology (NCSSSMST) Professional Conference, Stephanie Marshall describes what is needed to transform STEM education in today's world. While such an endeavor will take multiple systemic actions, here Marshall focuses on…

The purpose of this study is to explore how Lakatos' scientific research programmes might serve as a theoretical framework for representing and evaluating informal argumentation about socio-scientific issues. Seventy undergraduate science and non-science majors were asked to make written arguments about four socio-scientific issues. Our analysis…

This article describes a twist on the basic "Science 101" investigation of having students observe a birthday candle before, during, and after burning. It engages students in exploring the attributes of a candle, introduces them to the concepts of empirical observation and investigation, and involves them in developing and conducting a burning…

Providing efficient and clean power is a challenge for devices that range from the micro to macro in scale. Although there has been significant progress in the development of micro-, meso-, and macro-scale power supplies and technologies, realization of many devices is limited by the inability of power supplies to scale with the diminishing sizes…

The purpose of this study was to examine two of the salient elements of instructional narratives as a guide to instructional practice. The literature summarized in this report discusses the theoretical basis for narrative impact on comprehension and retention, enumerates and defines possible salient narrative elements from the literature, and…

Many students view equations as a series of variables and operators into which numbers should be plugged rather than as representative of a physical process. To solve a problem they may simply look for an equation with the correct variables and assume it meets their needs, rather than selecting an equation that represents the appropriate physical…

The Malaysian Ministry of Education has implemented the use of English as the medium of instruction at primary school level beginning 2003. These students are the main group of people affected by this change in policy. Besides, the implementation of the approach also raises the readiness of students in the rural areas. Therefore, the aims of the…

The author of this paper posits that inquiry-based learning (IBL) enacted via a modified Moore method (MMM) is a content-driven pedagogy; as such it is content-centred not instructor-centred or student-centred. The MMM is a philosophy of education where student must master material by doing; not simply discussing, reading, or seeing it and that…

This paper presents an integrated research and teaching model that has resulted from an NSF-funded effort to introduce results of current Machine Learning research into the engineering and computer science curriculum at the University of Central Florida (UCF). While in-depth exposure to current topics in Machine Learning has traditionally occurred…

This study examined preservice teachers' understanding of the syntactic structures of inquiry; in particular, what it means to give priority to evidence and how to use evidence to construct explanations. Data were collected from student journals, the course syllabus, the assignment description, and weekly lesson plans. The use of content analysis…

Traditionally, only the best-funded schools could afford to offer students the kinds of hands-on science experiences that "real life" scientists perform. However, with the advent of digital technologies and portable, affordable handheld computing devices, real world investigations--that also address science standards--are now broadly accessible to…

The ancient Greek mathematicians sought to construct, by use of straight edge and compass only, all regular polygons. They had no difficulty with regular polygons having 3, 4, 5 and 6 sides, but the 7-sided heptagon eluded all their attempts. In this article, the authors discuss some cosine relations and the regular heptagon. (Contains 1 figure.)

A lab practical exam for second-year organic chemistry is presented that tests multiple lab skills and theory that the students have acquired directly from laboratory experiences. This exam motivates students to learn lab skills and is an effective end-of-term test for many of those skills. (Contains 2 figures.)

Lay understandings of human cognition, affect, and behaviour often diverge from the findings of scientific investigations. The present study examined South African fourth year psychology students' judgments about the factual correctness of statements of psychological phenomena that have been demonstrated to be incorrect by empirical research.…

An initial sample of 94 students enrolled in a first-term general chemistry course was tested with paired algorithmic-conceptual questions, which included questions first used by Nurrenbern and Pickering. The topics of these questions were density, stoichiometry, gas laws, and molarity. Scientific reasoning skill was measured with the Classroom…