This research documents the impact of a teaching interview aimed at developing a critical attitude in students, and focused on a particular topic: radiocarbon dating. This teaching interview is designed to observe students' reaction to limited written explanations of the phenomenon under study, and their possible frustration or intellectual…

Prior research has mainly focused on what makes professional development effective from the program design perspective. However, there is a lack of understanding about what teachers need for improvement in the context of educational reforms and curricular changes. This study used the pedagogical content knowledge framework to examine teachers'…

This article provides information about the integration of innovative hands-on activities within a sophomore-level Fluid Mechanics course at New Mexico Tech. The course introduces students to the fundamentals of fluid mechanics with emphasis on teaching key equations and methods of analysis for solving real-world problems. Strategies and examples…

The problem-solving process is investigated for five groups of students when solving context-rich problems in an introductory physics course included in an engineering programme. Through transcripts of their conversation, the paths in the problem-solving process have been traced and related to a general problem-solving model. All groups exhibit…

In this paper we report on an activity aimed at building an electromagnetic wave. This was part of a class on the concept of mass offered to a group of 20 pre-service Brazilian physics teachers. The activity consisted of building a plane wave using an apparatus in which it is possible to fit some rods representing electric and magnetic fields into…

The inclusion of the history and philosophy of science (HPS) in science teaching is widely accepted, but the actual state of implementation in schools is still poor. This article investigates possible reasons for this discrepancy. The demands science teachers associate with HPS-based teaching play an important role, since these determine teachers'…

Reflection has recently been emphasized as a constructive pedagogical activity. However, little attention has been given to the quality of reflections that students write. In this study, we explored the reflections that students make about their knowledge organization as part of a formative learning activity. More specifically, we assessed the…

Why does a balloon deflate when it is left in a cold car; or why does one have to pump up his or her bike tires in the spring after leaving them in the garage all winter? To answer these questions, students must understand the relationships among temperature, pressure, and volume of a gas. The purpose of the Predict, Share, Observe, and Explain…

Tuning is a faculty-driven initiative designed to improve the quality of higher education by establishing transparent and fully assessable learning outcomes and proficiencies for degrees, discipline by discipline. Unlike many other initiatives in the United States which function within an individual institution, the Utah Tuning Project involved…

The topic of pressure and buoyancy is one that encompasses both invisible and abstract conceptions and about which students have misconceptions. The purpose of this research was to research the effectiveness of three different methods of teaching physics (conceptual change-based, real life context-based and traditional learning on upper-secondary…

This self-study of activities as a practicum supervisor in several secondary schools focuses on the supervisor's contribution to the quality of a teacher candidate's professional learning in the context of a familiar tension between on-campus courses and in-school practicum experiences. Data from both formal and informal supervisory experiences…

Background: A substantial review study of concept cartoons reports that few studies have indicated their functions. For this reason, the present study illuminates the extent to which concept cartoon-embedded worksheets (through constructivist context) accomplish these functions in conceptual learning. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to…

This paper examines the process of high school students' planning investigations in the chemistry laboratory across two consecutive academic years in terms of their actions and their progress. The context is a set of five inquiry-based laboratory tasks in which participants (9th and 10th graders, 14-15 and 15-16 years of age) are required to plan…

This article examines a physics course for pre-service primary teachers in which physics, crafts and drama were taught together by connecting the standpoints of crafts and drama. The study was carried out by three university educators from these disciplines during an advanced optional course for student-teachers at the University of Helsinki in…

This research was aimed at developing printed teaching materials of Atomic Physics PEFI4421 Course using Research and Development (R & D) model; which consisted of three major set of activities. The first set consisted of seven stages, the second set consisted of one stage, and the third set consisted of seven stages. This research study was…