This mixed-methods research study investigated the effects of Appreciative Inquiry on student-course engagement and attendance in core academic classes at a community college in central Mississippi. In an increasingly competitive global economy, most individuals need education or technical skills beyond high school to secure employment offering…

Current cutting-edge biomedical investigation requires that the researcher have an operational understanding of several diverse disciplines. Biocatalysis is a field of science that operates at the crossroads of organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, and molecular biology, and provides an excellent model for interdisciplinary research. We…

This paper describes the development of nQuire, a software application to guide personal inquiry learning. nQuire provides teacher support for authoring, orchestrating, and monitoring inquiries as well as student support for carrying out, configuring, and reviewing inquiries. nQuire allows inquiries to be scripted and configured in various ways,…

Knowledge about the nature of science has been advocated as an important component of science because it provides a framework on which the students can incorporate content knowledge. However, little empirical evidence has been provided that links nature of science knowledge with content knowledge. The purpose of this mixed method study was to…

Science content is one area of general curriculum access that needs more investigation. Explicit instruction is effective for teaching students with high incidence disabilities a variety of skills, including science content. In this study, we taught three elementary aged students with autism spectrum disorder to acquire science descriptors (e.g.,…

In order to bring teaching and research together, a fuller understanding of how academics conceptualise research and scholarship is needed. The paper discusses different ways in which research and scholarship are conceptualised and then provides two alternative models of the relationship between teaching and research based on different conceptions…

This review provides an overview of the the current state of research on professional development in science education. An analytical frame was used, based on what is known about PD from educational research. Clarke and Hollingsworth's model for teacher professional growth was also used to categorise the studies according to their aims and…

The "community of inquiry" as formulated by C. S. Peirce is grounded in the notion of communities of discipline-based inquiry engaged in the construction of knowledge. The phrase "transforming the classroom into a community of inquiry" is commonly understood as a pedagogical activity with a philosophical focus to guide…

Past and contemporary scholars have emphasized the importance of job-embedded, systematic instructional inquiry for educators. A recent review of the literature highlights four key features shared by several well documented inquiry approaches for classroom teachers. Interestingly, another line of research suggests that these key features also…

Many Earth science lessons today still focus on memorizing the names of rocks and minerals. This led the author to develop a lesson that reveals the fascinating stories told by rocks through the study of their physical properties. He first designed the lesson for Puerto Rican teachers, hence its Spanish title: "Las Rocas Nos Cuentan Su Historia."…

Science teachers can find lesson ideas almost anywhere. For example, during a recent visit to a local dollar store, the author stumbled upon a flower vase filled with water pearls, also known as water beads and jelly beans. She bought several of the bags (search the web to find numerous online sources), and soon began experimenting. Water pearls…

A recipe is a great way to learn about the procedure and the variables (or "ingredients") involved. Cookbooks are comforting and valuable: They're easy to follow, and people know what they'll get. The problem is that cookbook labs end just when things get interesting. The excitement of science is in understanding the discovery and pursuing the…

This paper shows how to teach a mathematics for liberal arts class in an inquiry-based way using ideas from music to launch the mathematical activities. No musical knowledge is required to understand and teach the material. The main activity is analyzing the differences between two kinds of rhythmic palindromes. The content is mathematically…

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a kind of computer software that allows people to work with digital maps in a fast and flexible way. In the past decade, more and more geography teachers have become interested in the possibilities of using GIS in secondary education. However, teaching with GIS is complex, and little is known about how to do…

Service-learning scholars contend that engaging students in systematic reflection during community service promotes one, if not all, of the following student outcomes: (1) academic learning; (2) personal growth; and (3) civic engagement. For communication instructors in particular, Applegate and Morreale (1999) proposed that service-learning both…