This paper describes the preliminary stages in physics problem-solving related to the use of external representation. This empirical study was carried out using a phenomenographic approach to analyze data from individual thinking-aloud and interviews with 8 senior high school students and 7 physics teachers. The result of this study is a set of…

Mathematics plays a crucial role in physics. This role is brought about predominantly through the building, employment, and assessment of mathematical models, and teachers and educators should capture this relationship in the classroom in an effort to improve students' achievement and attitude in both physics and mathematics. But although there…

Thermal equilibrium is a basic concept in thermodynamics. In India, this concept is generally introduced at the first year of undergraduate education in physics and chemistry. In our earlier studies (Pathare and Pradhan 2011 "Proc. episteme-4 Int. Conf. to Review Research on Science Technology and Mathematics Education" pp 169-72) we…

Since October 2010, the Chemistry-Biology Combined Major Program, an international course taught in English at Osaka University, has been teaching small classes (no more than 20 in size). We present data from the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) given to first-year classical mechanics students (N = 47 students over three years) pre and post score,…

Seeking a historical-philosophical approach to science teaching, narrative texts have been used as pedagogical tools to improve the learning experience of students. A review of the literature of different types of narrative texts and their different rates of effectiveness in science education is presented. This study was developed using the…

This paper describes a learning experience designed to introduce students in a Micro- and Nanosystems course in a Physics Bachelor's degree program to the use of professional tools for the design and characterization of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) through a specific commercial case: the MEMS used by the well-known gaming platform…

The actuality of the investigated problem is caused by the need for students' training at pedagogical high schools to meet the challenges of research activities and the insufficient development of the theoretical, content-technological, scientific and methodological aspects of the formation of their experimental research competencies at the…

Background: In developed countries, it is challenging for teachers to select pedagogical practices that encourage students to enrol in science and technology courses in upper secondary school. Purpose: Aiming to understand the enrolment dynamics, this study analyses sample-based data from Finland's National Assessment in Science to determine…

This study had two research purposes. First, we examined the scientific reasoning gains of prospective science teachers who are concrete, formal, and postformal reasoners in an argumentation-based physics inquiry instruction. Second, we sought conceptual knowledge and achievement gaps between these student groups before and after the instruction.…

Background: Practical work is widely seen as a necessary part of a good physics education, but convincing evidence that it impacts positively on pupils' learning is scarce. Recent work suggests the use of talk and discussion might hold the key to making practical work more educationally productive. Purpose: The research question that this study…

Over the past few decades, a growing body of evidence demonstrates that students learn best in engaging, interactive, collaborative, and inquiry-based environments. However, most college science classes are still taught with traditional methods suggesting the existing selection of research-based instructional materials has not widely transformed…

Interactive engagement activities are increasingly common in undergraduate physics teaching. As research efforts move beyond simply showing that interactive engagement pedagogies work towards developing an understanding of "how" they lead to improved learning outcomes, a detailed analysis of the way in which these activities are used in…

This article shifts from the formal learning spaces of school and university to an Australian public swimming pool to playfully engage some of the dilemmas that recent theory poses for curriculum studies. The article enacts multiple diffractions (Barad, 2007) as theory becomes swimming and swimming becomes theory, and ideas and movements are…

Subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses are one option open in England to graduates with a science background whose first degree content is judged to be insufficient to train to become chemistry or physics teachers. Previous articles in "School Science Review" have discussed the structure of one type of extended SKE course offered at…

As part of a wider qualification reform at upper secondary level in England, the assessment of practical work is changing, following concerns that the legacy model of assessment was having a negative impact on teaching and learning. The OCR examination board is running a longitudinal survey of teachers' views on practical work, focusing on the…