To promote teaching science through inquiry, the author wanted to use his experience in the Galápagos to design a lesson that allows students to immerse themselves in the essential science and engineering practices identified in the "Next Generation Science Standards," as they ask questions; analyze and interpret data; engage in argument…

Introduction: There are a few methods to study inquiry's abilities in Chile, despite its importance in science education. This study analyzes the psychometric properties of a Scientific Inquiry Scale in pedagogy students of two Chilean universities. Method: The study uses an instrumental design with 325 students from 3 pedagogy majors. As a…

This article draws on current literature leading to the development of a holistic framework to support practitioners in observation and assessment of childrens evolving inquiry skills. Evidence from the 2011 Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) in England identifies a decline of year five student achievement in science. A…

Today, with the development of science and technology and its rapid progress, the importance attached to science education has increased. This increase in interest has led to the development of the methods, techniques, and approaches that enable the students to be active, question and construct knowledge. The 5E learning model is one of them, and…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Using National Benchmarking Data to Improve Student Learning in Chemistry at Lebanon Valley College (Marc A. Harris); (2) Mutually Dependent Outcomes: Using Assessment to Improve First-Year Retention and Student Learning (Alan Bearman and Elaine Lewis); (3) Emergent…

Rania Gikopoulou is a primary school teacher and post-doctoral researcher at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. In this article she describes how her 5th grade class (Age 11) learned about abstract phenomena through models of their microscopic structure.

It is now widely accepted, and indeed emphasized in the Next Generation Science Standards, that science education should encompass scientific practice as well as science content. By participating in an intellectual community engaged in the broad range of activities that constitute scientific inquiry, rather than simply mastering isolated science…

This study follows two groups of students (67 in all) through the 3 years of their high school biology education and examines the development of their systems thinking--specifically their models of the human body as a system. Both groups were composed of biology majors, but the students in one group also participated in a PBLbased extension…

This article is aimed at teachers already experienced with activities involving small, student-collected data sets and who are now ready to begin working with large, online data sets collected by scientists and engineers. The authors discuss challenges, instructional strategies, and sources of appropriate lesson plans. With guidance, plus online…

For much of the northern United States, the months surrounding the winter solstice are a time of increased darkness, low temperatures, and frozen landscapes. Each year, the ubiquitous white ice crystals that blanket regions of the north go uninvestigated. Instead of hunkering down indoors with their classes, however, teachers can take advantage of…

Current definitions of creativity almost universally include "value" or a close cognate as one of the criteria. This article discusses two problems that arise as the result of the inclusion of value in those definitions. First, there is a conflict between the researchers' definition of the relevant phenomena and that used in the ordinary…

A simple classroom exercise is used to teach students about the law of propagation of uncertainty in experimental measurements and analysis. Students calculate the density of a rectangular wooden block with a hole from several measurements of mass and length using a ruler and scale. The ruler and scale give students experience with estimating…

Computer science programs are too often identified with a narrow stratum of the student population, often white or Asian boys who have access to computers at home. But because computers play such a huge role in our world today, all students can benefit from the study of computer science and the opportunity to build skills related to computing. The…

Water is a crucial topic that spans the K-12 science curriculum, including the elementary grades. Students should engage in the articulation, negotiation, and revision of model-based explanations about hydrologic phenomena. However, past research has shown that students, particularly early learners, often struggle to understand hydrologic…

This paper is an initial contribution to a general theory in which science classroom "activity types" and epistemological "discourse practices" are systematically linked. The idea is that activities and discourse are reflexively related, so that different types of science classroom activities (e.g., scientific argumentation,…