In this paper I reflect on the experiences of Life- and Natural Sciences teachers in the Northern Cape who engaged in classroom action research (CAR). The context was a short-learning programme (SLP) facilitated by the North-West University on epistemological border-crossing between indigenous knowledge and the school science curriculum. After the…

Systems thinking approaches underscore a holistic view of the components comprising a dynamic system, including their connections and interdependencies as well as their interactions with other systems. Compelling international calls have been made recently to infuse chemistry education with systems thinking so as to not only better illustrate…

This instructional resource production project explored low cost and waste materials for developing practical and interactive resources for teaching science at the basic school level. Developing countries, including Ghana, are not able to provide teachers with instructional resources for teaching and learning due to financial constraints. Science…

Computation is becoming an increasingly important part of physics education. However, there are currently few theories of learning that can be used to help explain and predict the unique challenges and affordances associated with computation in physics. In this study, we adapt the existing theory of computational literacy, which posits that…

Where does our food come from? Such a question may be difficult for some children to answer, especially those living in a city apartment devoid of a backyard with a vegie patch or fruit trees. This article describes a learning experience designed to encourage Year 1 children to think about the foods that humans obtain from plants. The learning…

In introductory physics laboratories, spring constants are traditionally measured using the static method. The dynamic method, via vertical spring-mass oscillator, that uses a stopwatch in order to measure the period of oscillations is also commonly employed. However, this time-measuring technique is prone to human errors and in this paper we…

Scientific argumentation is a key means by which students make sense of content and processes in inquiry-based instruction. In scientific argumentation students make a "claim" that they support with "evidence" and provide "reasoning" as to how the evidence supports the claim. Integrating the different aspects of…

A practical approach for synthesizing functional material from waste material is described. The work was carried out by chemistry undergraduate students as a group project. The concepts used mainly in inorganic quantitative approaches were applied to transform an iron-containing material to magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. The magnetic…

The aim of this study was to examine the role of aesthetic practice in elementary school and the consequences for children's meaning-making in science. More specifically, we intended to scrutinise what science learning emerges within the process, to target the consequences of adopting art practice in science class and to explore these two…

In recent years, researchers have worked diligently to identify more effective means of facilitating student learning. Some promising pedagogical techniques that have emerged include the flipped-class model and test-enhanced learning. These pedagogical strategies have been incorporated into a multitouch book. A multitouch book is a dynamic…

Recent studies have shown that sorting tasks are a useful tool both for measuring and aiding student learning as well as facilitating the transfer of knowledge to novel contexts. These tasks require students to categorize scenarios or information in new ways that facilitate connection making and deeper understanding. As such, sorting tasks…

"Cases are stories with a message. They are not simply narratives for entertainment. They are stories to educate" (Herreid, 1997, p. 92). By this definition, a case study is two things: a story and a strategy to drive learning. Although the story typically comes from a narrative purposefully written for the classroom, such as the case…

A coherent curriculum that clearly defines sets of ideas that build upon one another to meet desired learning goals can successfully support the development of meaningful understanding across time. This study explores the influence of a coherent curriculum as a systematic approach to aligning and sequencing specific ideas to support students in…

The content and design scheme for a readily adaptable, research-based laboratory course in chemical biology are presented. In this course, students interrogate protein structure and function using the site-specific incorporation of noncanonical amino acids by genetic code expansion. The relatively new field of genetic code expansion enables…

A series of laboratory themed simulations developed by Learning Science Ltd. were integrated into a first year laboratory module at the University of Leicester. These simulations allow students to attempt the experiments they will do in the laboratory in a risk-free way that provides the opportunity to make mistakes and learn how to correct them…