In March of 2009, Mr. John Holloway and his neighbors in the Harmony Park district of Kansas City, MO, were excited to begin gardening on a vacant city lot in their neighborhood. The neighborhood, like many in urban areas, had once been residential interspersed with small establishments including restaurants, shops, and businesses such as auto…

Aspects of chemistry content knowledge held by 265 UK-based pre-service teachers (PSTs) were probed using 28 diagnostic questions in five chemistry concept areas, "Particle theory and changes of state", "Mass conservation" (taught to 11-14-year-olds), and "Chemical bonding", "Mole calculations" and…

This study investigated the mental representations of metallic bonding and the malleability of metals held by three male students aged 14-15 (Year 10) who were attending a Hong Kong school. One student was selected by their chemistry teacher as representing each of the highest, the medium, and the lowest level of attainment in chemistry in a…

In "Space", relations, and the learning of science", Wolff-Michael Roth and Pei-Ling Hsu use ethnomethodology to explore high school interns learning shopwork and shoptalk in a research lab that is located in a world class facility for water quality analysis. Using interaction analysis they identify how spaces, like a research…

The article describes the use of Mathematica, a computer algebra system (CAS), in a high school chemistry course. Mathematica was used to generate a graph, where a slider controls the value of parameter(s) in the equation; thus, students can visualize the effect of the parameter(s) on the behavior of the system. Also, Mathematica can show the…

The advanced placement course audit was implemented to standardize the college-level curricular and resource requirements for AP courses. While the process has had this effect, it has brought with it misconceptions about how much the College Board intends to control what happens within the classroom, what information is required to be included in…

The purpose of this study was to investigate inscriptions used in "Types of Chemical Reactions" topic in Turkish, Indian, and American chemistry textbooks. We investigated both the types of inscriptions and how they were used in textbooks to support learning. A conceptual analysis method was employed to determine how those textbooks use…

Students regard evolutionary theory differently than science in general. Students' reported confidence in their ability to understand science in general (e.g., posing scientific questions, interpreting tables and graphs, and understanding the content of their biology course) significantly outweighed their confidence in understanding evolution. We…

Interactive television is a type of distance education that uses streaming audio and video technology for real-time student-teacher interaction. Here, I discuss the design and logistics for developing a high school laboratory-based science course taught to students at a distance using interactive technologies. The goal is to share a successful…

Why is it so hard to get students talking in science class? Who is responsible? Are the students unwilling to speak in class? What kinds of supports are helpful for in-the-moment teaching during classroom discussions in science? We present one high school teacher's facilitation of science discussions while supported by a dialogic discussion…

Understanding how blogs can support collaborative learning is a vital concern for researchers and teachers. This article explores how blogs may be used to support secondary education students' collaborative interaction and how such an interaction process can promote the creation of a Community of Inquiry to enhance critical thinking and…

Many students share the common belief that the limiting reactant in a chemical reaction is the reactant in the smallest quantity of material. To help students overcome this difficulty a hands-on activity for the limiting reactant concept was developed. The activity incorporates the three levels of representation (macroscopic, submicroscopic, and…

Teaching prismatic colours usually boils down to establishing the take-home message that white light consists of "differently refrangible" coloured rays. This approach explains the classical spectrum of seven colours but has its limitations, e.g. in discussing spectra from setups with higher resolution or in understanding the well…

This study investigated high school students' understanding of fundamental chemistry concepts--states of matter, melting, evaporation, condensation, boiling, and vapor pressure, in relation to their understanding of the particulate nature of matter. A sample of six students (four females and two males) enrolled in a second year chemistry course at…

Concerns with the ability of U.S. classrooms to develop learners who will become the next generation of innovators, particularly given the present climate of standardized testing, warrants a closer look at creativity in science classrooms. The present study explored these concerns associated with teachers' classroom practice by addressing the…