This article draws on M. M. Bakhtin's (1981) notion of dialogism to articulate what it means to understand a scientific idea. In science, understanding an idea is both conceptual and epistemic and is exhibited by an ability to use it in explanation and argumentation. Some distillation of these activities implies that dialogic understanding of a…

Numerous flash or java applet based simulations have been developed to improve students' comprehension of Science concepts, particularly the more complex or "dry" ones. Simulations have been reported to be effective as instructional aids in scaffolding scientific learning by students since simulations support the explication of implicit…

Well-designed "controls" distinguish experimental from non-experimental studies. Surprisingly, we found that a high percentage of students had difficulty identifying control experiments even after completing three university-level laboratory courses. To address this issue, we designed and ran a revised cell biology lab course in which…

Along with inquiry-based teaching, exploring the elements of art can guide students to view and represent objects realistically. Understanding line, shape, color, value, form, space, and texture helps bridge the gap between what students actually observe and what their preconceived ideas about the object may be. This type of explicit instruction…

Student researchers in physiology courses often interact with human subjects in classroom research but may be unfamiliar with the professional ethics of experimenter-subject interactions. This communication describes experiences related to an interactive video used in exercise science and general biology courses to help students become aware of,…

This paper presents one of the ways in which the ideas of active learning, problem solving, using history of science, probing students' ideas and other approaches can be implemented to bring about meaningful learning. The example is taken from the plant chemistry and is suitable for the lower secondary level. In this paper we wanted to show how,…

The purpose of this qualitative interpretive research study was to examine high school students' written scientific explanations during biology laboratory investigations. Specifically, we characterized the types of epistemologies and forms of reasoning involved in students' scientific explanations and students' perceptions of scientific…

Building students' ability to transfer physics fundamentals to real-world applications establishes a deeper understanding of underlying concepts while enhancing student interest. Forensic science offers a great opportunity for students to apply physics to highly engaging, real-world contexts. Integrating these opportunities into inquiry-based…

This study examined the science and mathematics achievements of 16 Year 9 students with hearing loss in an inclusive high-school setting in Western Australia. Results from the Monitoring Standards in Education (MSE) compulsory state tests were compared with state and class averages for students with normal hearing. Data were collected from three…

In this article, the author suggests a classroom challenge that will engage students in designing a house on the hill. He suggests teachers ask a local builder to come to the school to discuss the kinds of concerns that must be dealt with when building homes in cold environments. The use of dioramas and cardboard scale models would be very useful…

Complex multistep problem exercises are one way to enhance engineering students' learning of electromagnetics (EM). This study investigates whether exposure to complex problem exercises during an introductory EM course improves students' conceptual and procedural knowledge. The performance in complex problem exercises is compared to prior success…

A pedagogical experiment is described to examine the physical absorption of gases, in this case carbon dioxide, in a hollow fiber membrane contactor (HFMC) where the absorption concentration profile can be followed by a color change. The HFMC is used to teach important concepts and can be used in interesting applications for students, such as…

Design activities, when embedded in an inquiry cycle and appropriately scaffolded and supplemented with reflection, can promote the development of the habits of mind (scientific abilities) that are an important part of scientific practice. Through the Investigative Science Learning Environment ("ISLE"), students construct physics knowledge by…

There is widespread agreement within the scientific and education communities that undergraduate biology curricula fall short in providing students with the quantitative and interdisciplinary problem-solving skills they need to obtain a deep understanding of biological phenomena and be prepared fully to contribute to future scientific inquiry.…

Recent reports have begun to lay the foundation for a re-visioned K-8 science curriculum which includes four strands that could be used to define and assess science proficiency for all students. Using these strands as an analytic lens, this pre-post multiple-case case study explores elementary school science teachers' practices and their students'…