In this paper we have set out to search for similarities and differences between the Nordic countries concerning patterns of competencies defined as scientific literacy in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study. The first part focuses on gender differences concerning the two types of competencies, understanding of…

This study examined university engineering and physical science students' misconceptions of the nature of magnetic field. It is assumed that a significant knowledge of the sources of magnetic field is a basic prerequisite when students have to think about electromagnetic phenomena. To analyze students' conceptions, we have taken into account the…

Whereas there has been strong advocacy of the value of writing for learning in science, the role of student planning in this approach and the relationships between planning, writing, and learning have been underresearched. Our mixed method study aimed to address this issue by seeking to identify quantitative differences in learning outcomes…

This study focuses on the conceptions of trainee, primary, and subject teachers about three phenomena: the motion of objects, seasonal changes, and aggregate changes of matter. A total of 198 participants completed a questionnaire concerning two types of tasks. First, teachers evaluated the adequacy of a given explanation as compared to their…

This article describes using area and ratio concepts to examine why some animals, or people wearing different types of shoes, sink into the surface on which they are standing. Students compute "sinking values" to explain these differences. (Contains 2 figures.)

This article describes a pumpkin activity that allows teachers to evaluate their students' understanding of standards-based science skills. This activity is a valuable tool for the teacher to assess all the concepts introduced in the beginning of the life science. It assesses the lab skills that have been taught in the first quarter: observation,…

Art provides students a way to visually represent their scientific knowledge and at the same time helps teachers assess student understanding. Examining a drawing allows teachers to scrutinize students' mental model of a science concept. Science can be described as a continuing process of discovering the order and recurring patterns in nature;…

This study investigated the effect of conceptual change text-oriented instruction over traditional instruction on students' understanding of solution concepts (e.g., dissolving, solubility, factors affecting solubility, concentrations of solutions, types of solutions, physical properties of solutions) and their attitudes towards chemistry. The…

This article tells the story of the design of Learning by Design(tm) (LBD), a project-based inquiry approach to science learning with roots in case-based reasoning and problem-based learning, pointing out the theoretical contributions of both, classroom issues that arose upon piloting a first attempt, ways we addressed those challenges, lessons…

This study explores the effectiveness of a cooperative learning (CL) approach, where students work together and elaborate concepts of physics. The group problem-solving tasks were conceptual questions from physics, where the students had to discuss and provide explanations of some phenomena. The effectiveness of the learning-in-groups approach was…

In this study we investigate students' learning during their interaction with two exhibits at a science center. Specifically, we analyze both students' procedures when interacting with exhibits and their understanding of the scientific concepts presented therein. Bernstein's theory of pedagogic discourse (1990, 2000) provided the sociological…

Humans have long pondered the question of life's origins on Earth and sought to understand their place in the vast expanse of the Universe. Are they alone, in which case the inception of life is a phenomenon unique to planet Earth, or will they find signs of life on other terrestrial bodies? Today, technology allows space probes and rovers to…

The overhead projector is an excellent tool for teachers at both the high school and college level. Teachers often use it to display class notes as they monitor students' actions and reactions to the concepts being presented and discussed, to display diagrams and figures too complex to draw on the chalkboard, and more recently to display computer…

What happens when children pour water through a funnel? They begin to understand science and math concepts such as flow, force, gravity, and volume. What happens when children mold sand to create a tunnel? They develop skills in areas such as problem solving and predicting. They also gain knowledge about absorption and the properties of sand and…

In recent years, increasing emphasis has come to be placed, both by researchers and by policy-makers, on the adequacy of primary teachers' subject knowledge of science. Within research, this emphasis has been linked to the rise of constructivist ideas about the significance of establishing children's prior conceptions of scientific concepts for…