In 1997 a new unit, Participatory Resource Management, was developed and offered in the School of Resource, Environment and Society, at the Australian National University. The challenges of the unit were multiple, ranging from introducing social science material into a science curriculum, to attempting to change practitioners' attitudes towards…

Science education reforms consistently maintain the goal that students develop an understanding of the nature of science, including both the nature of scientific knowledge and methods for making it. This paper articulates a framework for scaffolding epistemic aspects of inquiry that can help students understand inquiry processes in relation to the…

"What's good for English learning students is good for all students" is a phrase that the author often hears as a teacher educator. However, English language learners have special needs that must be met with pinpointed strategies that target language so they can understand the content being taught. To better incorporate these strategies into the…

This article describes the curriculum for a highly student-centered human biology course constructed around a series of themes that enables the integration of the same basic paradigms found in a traditional survey lecture course without sacrificing essential content. The theme-based model enhances student interest, ability to integrate knowledge,…

The Senior Seminar in Biology course at Kean University teaches students who have taken core biology courses and achieved senior status to research primary literature on current topics in biology and produce a traditional seminar presentation that includes a written report and a clear and comprehensive oral talk with ensuing discussion. Senior…

This article reports on findings from a two-year project--'Improving Science Together'--undertaken in 20 primary and four secondary schools in and around Bristol, UK. The project was funded by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca PLC as part of their national Science Teaching Trust initiative, and had as one of its aims the development of…

This study examines the effects over time of implementing the William and Mary language arts and science curriculum for gifted learners designed around the Integrated Curriculum Model (ICM) in one suburban school district. It also analyzes stakeholders' perceptions of the effectiveness of the curriculum. Findings suggest that gifted student…

What does citizenship mean to a 6-year-old? To a 10-year-old? What does it mean to you? Is it merely about looking after other people? Would you agree that keeping a hamster in a cage in a primary classroom is cruel? How does a subject leader for science persuade colleagues that the non-statutory guidance for personal, social and health education…

Recent research literature in science education, science curriculum documents, and science methods texts have been highly influenced by constructivist views of how students learn science. But the widespread and often uncritical acceptance of constructivism in science education does not reflect the heated debate between constructivists and…

In this article, the author shares his experience in incorporating writing into a science curriculum and how to incorporate effective techniques in teaching vocabulary, proper word usage, and reading comprehension skills, all common in a typical English curriculum. As a young teacher, she thought interdisciplinary units had to be extensive,…

The Rural Alliance for Improving Science Education (RAISE), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is a program that partners Oklahoma State University with three public school districts in Oklahoma. This program enables Oklahoma State University science graduate students to serve as resources in developing and teaching science…

Science education in the Australian primary school curriculum is a relatively rare event. Several studies over the past twenty five years have all reported disappointingly low amounts of science being taught and the reluctance of primary school teachers to make science a priority in their teaching. Similar outcomes have been reported for…

Students' perceptions of the environment can differ based on sociocultural factors and experiences. Understanding how students develop environmental perceptions is an important step toward developing an inclusive environmental science curriculum. This article presents preliminary data from a study conducted in Singapore in which students'…

Biodiversity is the extraordinary variety of life in this planet. In order to be fully appreciated, biodiversity needs to be experienced firsthand, or "experientially." Thus, the standard classroom lecture format is not the ideal situation for teaching biodiversity and evolutionary concepts, in that student interest and understanding are…

The weak noncovalent interactions between substances, the handshake in the form of electrostatic interactions, van der Waals' interactions or hydrogen bonding is universal to all living and nonliving matter. They significantly influence the molecular and bulk properties and behavior of matter. Their transient nature affects chemical reactions and…