Scientific inquiry has been advocated as a common curriculum goal in school science education in South Africa, and also throughout the world. In South Africa, the introduction of inquiry-based instruction in a reformed science curriculum has met with serious challenges, such as the under-preparedness of in-service teachers. The purpose of this…

Curriculum materials can play a major role in shaping teachers' thinking about instruction and content as well as serve as a support for teachers' learning. With the inclusion of engineering in NGSS, many teachers may be turning to existing curriculum materials to help them infuse engineering into their science classroom, especially when they do…

In deciding on a student's grade in a class, an instructor generally needs to combine many individual grading judgments into one overall judgment. Two relatively common numerical scales used to specify individual grades are the 4-point scale (where each whole number 0-4 corresponds to a letter grade) and the percent scale (where letter grades A…

Two pendula of length "l," suspended from points separated by a horizontal distance a, can be joined in a trapezium configuration by linking the bobs with a light inextensible string of length b < a. Here we introduce this 'trapezoidal pendulum' as a charming and novel oscillatory system suitable for introductory physics laboratories.…

One of the objectives of science education in science centres has been the enhancement of interest in science. However, museum fatigue has a negative impact on interest. Museum fatigue has been described as physical tiredness or a decrease in visitors' interest in a museum. The learning experience of students in science centres is also influenced…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are an effective way to expose large numbers of students to authentic research, yet most laboratory courses still use traditional "cookbook" methods. While barriers to using CUREs have been captured postimplementation, little is known about the decision mindset before implementation…

The knowledge and practice of science are rooted in culture. One specific theory that reflects this idea is that of culturally relevant science teaching. The challenge in the Philippines, being a multicultural nation, is that each indigenous community would have its own set of culture and beliefs. Indigenous peoples suffer from the failure of the…

Based on the "analytical framework of nature of science" (NOS) in junior school science textbooks, a content analysis method was adopted to analyze the NOS in junior middle school physical textbooks (grade 8) of five editions authorized by the Ministry of Education of China, and the features of NOS were analyzed and compared. It was…

We conducted a study with introductory and upper-division level physics students in a Mexican and a Spanish university to learn how students recognize the main characteristics of the electric field in three of its more widely used representations, namely, algebraic notation, vector field plot, and electric field lines, and how the students do…

This article describes the development and deployment of Physics Toolbox Play, a gamified component of the "Android Physics Toolbox Sensor Suite" app, that can introduce young children through adults to fundamental physics principles. The app was used successfully in a variety of contexts, including STEM fairs with primary and secondary…

The main goal for Science Recreation Workshops (SRWs) is to build communities that create meaningful experiences, while participants engage with science in a practical manner. This triggers processes where acting and knowing go hand-in-hand to involve each person as a whole. This requires physical, intellectual and emotional interaction to…

"Beer Brewing: Chemical and Biochemical Principles" is a 15 week laboratory and lecture course specifically designed for nonscience majors as an introduction to science literacy via structured laboratory experiments that encourage student engagement. It provides students with a foundation in chemical and biochemical principles using a…

The aim of this study is to adapt the scale of the factors affecting argumentation instruction into Turkish. A total of 143 preservice science teachers studying in two different universities located in the east and west of Turkey participated in this study. In the process of adaptation firstly, structure, method and item biases were eliminated.…

The COVID-19 pandemic presented numerous challenges for all levels of the education system. In March 2020, virtually all colleges and universities in the United States moved all instruction to an online environment as a result of the pandemic. While this posed challenges for all faculty, it posed a particular challenge for those faculty members…

Educators around the world have been challenged to adapt their teaching and pastoral care rapidly in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In this article, we, the academic members of the Chemistry Education and Communication Research Theme (CECR) from the School of Chemistry at the University of Sydney, reflect on the challenges and successes…