This paper presents the design and practical application of a laboratory inquiry at high school chemistry level for systematic chemistry learning, as exemplified by a thermochemical approach to the reaction stoichiometry of neutralization using Job's method of continuous variation. In the laboratory inquiry, students are requested to propose the…

Modeling as a scientific practice in K-12 classrooms has received a wealth of attention in the U.S. and abroad due to the advent of revised national science education standards. The study described herein investigated how a group of high school chemistry teachers developed their understanding of the nature and function of models in the precollege…

How can physics teachers help students develop consistent problem solving techniques for both simple and complicated physics problems, such as those that encompass objects undergoing multiple forces (mechanical or electrical) as individually portrayed in free-body diagrams and/or phenomenon involving multiple objects, such as Doppler effect…

We have developed an app for iOS-based smart-phones/tablets that allows a 3-D, complex phase-based colorful visualization of hydrogen atom wave functions. Several important features of the quantum behavior of atomic orbitals can easily be made evident, thus making this app a useful companion in introductory modern physics classes. There are many…

Biological flight mechanics is typically taught in graduate level college classes rather than in secondary school classes. We developed an interdisciplinary unit for advanced upper-level secondary school students (ages 15-18) to teach the principles of flight and applications to biological systems. This unit capitalised on the tremendous…

The aim of this study is to introduce an activity on magnetic fields prepared in order to improve high school students' views on the nature of science. The activity was prepared according to explicit-reflective approach, which is one of the nature of science teaching methods. The nature of science elements intended to obtain with the activity are…

The Next Generation Science Standards emphasize the importance of developing students' abilities to effectively communicate science, including topics that are highly scrutinized in the American public sphere such as evolution. However, student attainment of "controversial communicative competence" (the ability to competently communicate…

This document presents the proceedings of the 27th Annual Research Forum held June 29, 2023, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included are the following fifteen action research papers: (1) The Effects of Real-World Mathematics Activities on High School Students' Attitudes (Alexa Altizer); (2) An Investigation of the…

The author taught for years in rural high schools, where students often helped their parents out around the house or farm with chores, learning basic mechanical skills that he could then build on in class. Then the author taught in an urban high school, where student skills often centered on video games and other electronics. The author knew that…

One of the major challenges in educational reform is supporting teachers and the profession in the continual improvement of instruction. Research-practice partnerships and particularly networked improvement communities are well-suited for such knowledge-building work. This article examines how a networked improvement community with eight…

Interest in student-centered active learning pedagogies is widespread, but discipline-specific examples of implemented instructional approaches are needed to bridge the gap between pedagogical ideas and their enactment. One of these approaches, Modeling Instruction, is an active, student-centered approach wherein students learn through…

Over the past two decades, science educators increasingly have become interested in the role of language in the learning of science and have drawn on the work of Bakhtin, among others, for understanding the dialogical nature of knowledge in a sociocultural framework. However, the nature of language and its relation to thinking have not…

Research in the field of students' understandings of models and their use in science describes different frameworks concerning these understandings. Currently, there is no conjoint framework that combines these structures and so far, no investigation has focused on whether it reflects students' understandings sufficiently (empirical evaluation).…

A novel didactic sequence is proposed for the teaching of chemical equilibrium. This teaching sequence takes into account the historical and epistemological evolution of the concept, the alternative conceptions and learning difficulties highlighted by teaching science and research in education, and the need to focus on both the students'…

Diffraction and interference are phenomena that demonstrate the wave nature of light and of particles. Experiments relating to the diffraction/interference of light can easily be carried out in an educational lab, but it may be impossible to perform experiments involving electrons because of the lack of specialized equipment needed for such…