Inquiry-based educational Araitz Uskola contexts including observation of the Moon have been found to facilitate students' understanding of the Sun-Earth-Moon system. However, the role that the collected data play in the knowledge construction process is unclear, as the process that students develop from the collected data has not previously been…

Asking scientific questions is the first practice of science and engineering listed in the Next Generation Science Standards. However, getting students to ask unsolicited questions in a large class can be difficult. In this qualitative study, undergraduate students sent SMS text messages to the instructor who received them on his mobile phone and…

Many physics faculty are aware of and interested in using research-based instructional strategies. However, knowledge and motivation are not sufficient to support successful and sustained adoption. To address this problem, we present a faculty online learning community (FOLC) model for educational change and describe its application (the New…

Solar eclipses occur several times a year, but most people will be lucky if they see one total solar eclipse in their lifetime. There are two upcoming total solar eclipses that can be seen from different parts of the United States (August 21, 2017 and April 8, 2024), and they provide teachers with an amazing opportunity to engage students with a…

The purpose of this laboratory experiment is to study fundamental concepts of kinetics and equilibria and the isotope effects associated with both of these concepts. The concepts of isotopes in introductory and general chemistry courses are typically used within the contexts of atomic weights and radioactivity. Kinetic and equilibrium isotope…

The objective of this study is to research the effects of using concept cartoons in the "Solar System and Beyond" unit, which is included in seventh grade science lessons, on students' critical thinking skills. The study group consisted of 58 students, selected using an appropriate sampling method, who were students in a state secondary…

In this study we compare the titles of scientific letters and those of research papers published in the field of astrophysics in order to identify the possible differences and/or similarities between both genres in terms of several linguistic and extra-linguistic variables (length, lexical density, number of prepositions, number of compound…

The chronic underrepresentation of Native and indigenous peoples in STEM fields (Fig. 1) has been a longstanding issue in the United States, despite concentrated efforts by many local and national groups, including the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) and the American Indian Science and…

This study examines Indonesian students' constructed knowledge of solar eclipse. It investigated the embraced myths, religious view--particularly that of Islam, and science concept that build students' comprehension of the solar eclipse. A survey was done in Bandung (Indonesia), where the solar eclipse took place on March 9, 2016, to 529 students…

If you've ever asked yourself whether problem-based learning (PBL) can bring new life to both your teaching and your students' learning, here's your answer: Yes. This all-in-one guide will help you engage your students in scenarios that represent real-world science in all its messy, thought-provoking glory. The scenarios will prompt K-12 students…

Environmentalism's wider and wilder possibilities today appear as regions of seeming darkness that bracket or frame acceptable environmental thinking. One of these barely-mentionable darknesses is outer space--the cosmos. Another is the inner and chthonic powers of the land and natural beings generally. This essay aims to bring these two kinds of…

This research explored young children's early thoughts about natural phenomena and investigated sources of influence toward their knowledge construction. Two Piagetian interviews were conducted with four children. Each child was questioned about two phenomena in particular: (a) the moon and its changing appearance (moon phases) and (b) the…

What follows is a description of the procedure for and results of a simple experiment on the formation of impact craters designed for the laboratory portions of lower mathematical-level general education science courses such as conceptual physics or descriptive astronomy. The experiment provides necessary experience with data collection and…

Using the Sun to tell time is an ancient idea, but we can take advantage of modern technology to bring it into the 21st century for students in astronomy, physics, or physical science classes. We have employed smartphones, Google Earth, and 3D printing to find the moment of local noon at two widely separated locations. By reviewing GPS…

The High School Project on Astrophysics Research with Cosmics (HiSPARC) is an international project in which secondary schools and academic institutions join forces to form a network of detectors to measure cosmic rays with extremely high energy. We present results of research done by students at the King Edward VI High School For Girls,…