Dialogic, sense-making interactions are critical venues for language development and science learning, particularly for emergent multilingual students. Designing and facilitating such learning opportunities is pedagogically complex work and often requires significant shifts in practice. We report on a design study in which we partnered with 5th…

The "Massachusetts Science, Technology, and Engineering Framework" integrates literacy skills into the standards and requires science teachers to use instructional strategies to support literacy in the classroom (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education [MADESE], 2016a). However, secondary science teachers may not…

Ample studies have confirmed that the concepts of Community of Practice and Lesson Study can effectively develop professional development, especially in the design of learning. This positive impact on learners is also evident. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the results that occurred with students who learned from teachers who used…

The term nature deficit disorder describes the "human costs of alienation from nature" (Louv, 2019). While not meant to be a medical diagnosis, Louv argues that the condition has, "profound implications, not only for the health of future generations but for the health of the earth itself" (Louv, 2008). Children most at risk are…

Research has consistently highlighted the importance of promoting child-parent interactions. In this essay, we describe the development of MAKEngineering kits that provide collaborative learning experiences for children in Grades 2-6 to engage in engineering design tasks with members of their families in their home environment. First, we present…

Observing children tossing a ball in a game of catch or pumping their legs to move a swing, it is obvious that they have already experienced and learned to control the basics of pushes and pulls. Through everyday experiences as simple as rolling a ball across the floor, to more complex activities like team sports, children are building a…

The research that studies the improvement of elementary school students' science knowledge and the development of elementary students' abilities to use the scientific and engineering practices is restricted. The purpose of this research is to study the effects of an instructional intervention on the knowledge of the students of elementary school…

The purpose of this mixed methods research was to investigate the development of 55 preservice elementary teachers' science teaching self-efficacy beliefs through analysis of their reflective practices in a science method course. This year-long study was conducted at two public universities located in the USA and Canada. Within the theoretical…

In today's dynamic global economy, integrated units of study are particularly important. Students who are fluent in several disciplines and comfortable moving among them can make meaningful connections and maintain enhanced understandings (Sias et al. 2016). This article shares an integrated STEAM unit that is grounded in the science disciplinary…

Students' difficulties in scientific argumentation have been widely reported in the literature. Researchers argue that these difficulties result mainly from students' lack of understanding of the goals and norms of argumentation. Therefore, designing and implementing appropriate instructional scaffolds to facilitate such essential knowledge of…

Global connections are an important part of the elementary classroom as they help students develop empathy through interactions while allowing them to apply classroom learning to the outside world (Suvansri 2016). Through Partnering with a classroom in another country the author hoped to create curiosity while helping students build a global…

Teaching primary science through inquiry offers a number of benefits including developing pupils' science skills, progressing thinking skills and personal capabilities, and making science relevant to children's everyday experience. Ensuring that pre-service teachers (PSTs) are fully confident and competent in teaching inquiry-based science (IBS)…

This qualitative case study examined teachers' perceptions of fourth-grade departmentalized science instruction at Title I schools. Three theoretical frameworks were used as a lens for the study: Model of School Learning (Carroll, 1963), Theory of Mastery Learning (Bloom, 1968) and Curriculum Ideologies (Schiro, 1992). The three theories were used…

The purposes of this study were: To examine the effects of low-cost mini science experiment kits on Thai 6th graders' science learning achievement; To investigate how these kits impact Thai 6th graders' Science process skills; To explore their influence on Thai 6th graders' scientific mindset The participants were 111 sixth-grade students from…

The research that studies the development of the structure of primary school students' written arguments on science issues is particularly limited. The present paper aimed to study the effect of a teaching intervention for electric circuits on the structure of primary school students' written arguments. Instructional material was developed based…