Current science education reform efforts highlight the importance of engaging students in scientifically oriented questions as a central dimension of inquiry-based elementary science. However, elementary teachers, particularly beginning teachers, must often overcome a variety of challenges to engage their students in reform-minded,…

Each year a high school math club selects an applications topic for a year-long study. This year the club members chose the study of Mars in its orbit from the perspective of Johannes Kepler's laws of orbital motion, which they applied to data available on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Horizons Web site. Although not apparent at the time, the math…

The medial temporal lobes (MTL) support declarative memory and mature structurally and functionally during the postnatal years in humans. Although recent work has addressed the development of declarative memory in early childhood, less is known about continued development beyond this period of time. The purpose of this investigation was to explore…

An in-class molecular modeling exercise is described. Groups of students are given molecular models to investigate and questions about the models to answer. This exercise is a quick and effective way to review nomenclature, stereochemistry, and conformational analysis.

In this communication we report on a "blended" form of assessment combining the positive aspects of a laboratory investigation, including practical skill acquisition, data reporting and social interaction, with the application and authenticity of a case study encouraging students to deepen their learning from laboratory activities. (Contains 2…

A cognitive phenotype is a product of both assets and deficits that specifies what individuals with spina bifida meningomyelocele (SBM) can and cannot do and why they can or cannot do it. In this article, we review the cognitive phenotype of SBM and describe the processing assets and deficits that cut within and across content domains, sensory…

Mark Runco is the Torrance Professor of Creative Studies and Gifted Education at the University of Georgia. He is also the Director of the Torrance Center, and is the founder and editor of the "Creativity Research Journal." His other editorial work includes the "Creativity" book series and the "Encyclopedia of Creativity." This article presents an…

Agriculture can play a key role in fostering scientific literacy because it brings important plant and ecosystem concepts into the classroom. Plus, agriculture, like science, is not static and includes much trial and error, investigation, and innovation. With help from community experts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research…

"Discover Diversities" is a wide thematic developed within the SEMEP (South-Eastern Mediterranean Environmental Project) project, supported by UNESCO (United Nation Education, Science and Culture Organization). SEMEP is essentially a project for science education, focusing on Mediterranean environment. As the Mediterranean has been the…

The tremendously huge volume of biomedical literature, scientists' specific information needs, long terms of multiples words, and fundamental problems of synonym and polysemy have been challenging issues facing the biomedical information retrieval community researchers. Search engines have significantly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of…

How can curriculum history be re-envisioned from a feminist, poststructuralist perspective? "Engendering Curriculum History" disrupts dominant notions of history as linear, as inevitable progress, and as embedded in the individual. This conversation requires a history that seeks "rememberance" not representation, "reflexivity" not linearity, and…

The author presents the science and engineering practices from the recently released "A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas." He recognizes the changes implied by the new framework, and eventually a new generation of science education standards will present new perspectives for the science…

Despite the connection between independent learning and gifted students, little is known of the views these students hold about the process of being self-directed learners. This interview study examined views of ten gifted elementary school students in South Australia about Self-Directed Learning. The interview responses showed that these gifted…

In this article, pre-service teachers' mathematics content knowledge is explored through the analysis of two items about ratio from a Mathematical Competency, Skills and Knowledge Test. Pre-service teachers' thinking strategies, common errors and misconceptions in their responses are presented and discussed. Of particular interest was the range…

Background: While research indicates elevated behavioural and emotional problems in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and decreased well-being in their parents, studies do not typically separate out the contribution of ASD from that of associated intellectual disabilities (ID). We investigated child behavioural and emotional problems,…