This study investigates the ability of future primary school teachers to design experiments when confronted with everyday life problems, particularly those involving complex phenomena or counterintuitive outcomes. Data were collected using a content analysis approach from the written assignments submitted during a Science Education university…

Although cognitive and social processes influencing students' scientific thinking skills have been extensively studied in recent years, the interplay between these processes remains insufficiently understood. This study examines the mediating role of research collaboration in the relationship between epistemic curiosity and critical thinking, as…

Entrepreneurship Education (EE) is experiencing growth at both primary and secondary educational levels worldwide, including in South Africa. It is increasingly advocated as a strategy for sustainable development. Nevertheless, the pedagogical foundation of EE for sustainable development in schools remains in the nascent stages of development.…

This study examines the relationship between Japanese children's inquiry skills and their participation in various after-school programs. Inquiry skills--encompassing the ability to explore, analyze, and synthesize information--are essential competencies in 21st-century education. However, limited research has explored how different types of…

The aim of this study is to reveal the impact of Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) on students' ability to come up with the rules of divisibility themselves and on their academic achievement in the 8th grade Mathematics course as well as to obtain students' views on the learning and teaching process, through the use of a mixed-methods sequential…

Children's inquiry is a pedagogical approach that positions young learners as active investigators who co-construct understandings through sustained exploration with materials, peers, kaiako, whanau, and local communities. It nurtures creativity and critical thinking while inviting children to engage deeply with people, places, and ideas. Grounded…

Chemistry labs are often taught using a rote mechanical approach without much explicit scaffolding for academic reflection by the students. Reflection, however, can play an essential role in learning because it is an evidence-based learning process that generates, deepens, critiques, and documents learning. By moving away from traditional teaching…

Syntheses of analogues of historical indigo and Maya blue pigments using an inquiry-based approach are presented. Derivatives of indigo were synthesized (in particular Tyrian purple) and used as vat dyes for dyeing cotton or wool fabrics or mixed with a sepiolite clay to create new hues or colors of Maya blues using a green chemistry hydrothermal…

Inquiry as a strategy for science teaching has become widespread in the classroom and has various applications. But whether teachers are sufficiently trained to carry it out in pre-university classrooms would need to be determined. The objective of this study is to determine the inquiry knowledge of preservice primary teachers and their ability to…

As science education shifts toward integrated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) approaches, guidelines for designing teaching and learning episodes that integrate curricular content and procedures from multiple disciplines become increasingly in demand. The existing plethora of conceptualizations of STEM makes difficult such…

In this paper, we present an argument for Practitioner Inquiry (PI). We briefly introduce PI, and we indicate how PI recasts the professional and political role of the Early Years Practitioner (practitioner). At the core of this article is the work of the early childhood pioneer, Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852). Froebel provided principles to…

This qualitative study uses the dialogical self theory to explore teacher educators' voices as they speak on the issue of teacher identity positioning, specifically when it comes to the position of teachers as inquirers. A content analysis of self-reports from 18 teacher educators yielded 3 primary teacher core I-positions. The results showed that…

This paper proposes a novel educational approach to epistemic vice rehabilitation. Its authors Gerry Dunne and Alkis Kotsonis note that, like Quassim Cassam, they remain optimistic about the possibility of improvement with regard to epistemic vice. However, unlike Cassam, who places the burden of minimizing or overcoming epistemic vices and their…

Qualitative research is valuable in medicine because of the deep insights it offers into the social and cultural dimensions of healthcare. Historically, qualitative methods have been influenced by critical theory and have shared its constructivist epistemology and orientation towards social justice. It can be challenging to teach such critical…

This paper, delivered as a provocative keynote address to the Collaborative Action Research Network (CARN) conference in Manchester on 28th October 2023, explores the question if action research might have a sweet spot. A sweet spot is defined as an ideal location, area or combination of factors for a particular activity or purpose. It draws on…