This paper presents a pilot case study on developing a qualitative tool to evaluate science student teachers' beliefs concerning science teaching and learning. The study is based on student teachers' drawings of themselves in a typical classroom situation and four open questions. Data was collected from 104 freshman science student teachers, and…

This article reports on an investigation of students learning of physics during group discussions around context-rich problems in introductory physics courses at university level. We present the results from video recordings of student groups solving three different problems. We found that group discussions around physics problems can lead to…

Research by Jon Miller, professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and director of the International Center for Scientific Literacy at Michigan State University, shows that the U.S. scientific literacy course requirements for nonscience college students pull the United States into second place in international rankings of adult scientific literacy.…

Visible light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been widely used as power indicators. However, after the power is switched off, it takes a while for the LED to go off. Many students were fascinated by this simple demonstration. In this paper, by making use of computer-based data acquisition and modeling, we show the voltage across the LED undergoing an…

In the past few decades, the physics teaching community has witnessed a surge in creative and often effective ways of using technology to improve physics instruction. Most of these findings suggest how technology can help instructors create interactive learning environments and how interactivity influences the effectiveness of physics learning.…

The decline in the popularity of physics over the period of secondary schooling and its consequent low uptake at A-level and beyond continues to cause concern on educational and economic grounds. The aim of this study is to explore whether physics might be made more attractive to students by employing an extended range of classroom and laboratory…

This study described the conceptual understandings of 50 early childhood (Pre-K-3) preservice teachers about standards-based lunar concepts before and after inquiry-based instruction utilizing educational technology. The instructional intervention integrated the planetarium software "Starry Night Backyard[TM]" with instruction on moon phases from…

The present paper reports the design process and the experimentation of a teaching-learning sequence about the concept of mechanical wave propagation and the role played by media where waves are propagating. The sequence focuses on the central issue of the relationships between observable phenomena, like macroscopic behaviours of waves, and their…

In the UK, as in several developed countries, concern has been expressed by interested commentators about the apparent decline of post-16 participation in the "hard" sciences (especially physics and chemistry). While formal full-time participation in 16-19 education and higher education has increased since the 1990s, both the relative and absolute…

This study investigated the group invariance of equating results using a science achievement test. Examinees were divided into different subgroups based on the average composite score for test centers, whether they had taken a physics course, and self-reported science grade point average. The reason for dividing examinees into subgroups using such…

The present study investigates whether Chinese high-school students are self-regulated learners. A social-cognitive model that distinguishes environmental, motivational, and cognitive components of this active approach to learning is described. This provides an appropriate framework for investigating this complex issue with eighth and tenth…

This study aimed to investigate the comparative value of experimenting with physical manipulatives (PM) in a sequential combination with virtual manipulatives (VM), with the use of PM preceding the use of VM, and of experimenting with PM alone, with respect to changes in students' conceptual understanding in the domain of heat and temperature. A…

Instructional techniques based on research in cognitive science and physics education have been used in physics courses to enhance student learning. While dramatic increases in conceptual understanding have been observed, students enrolled in these courses tend to move away from scientistlike views of the discipline and toward novicelike views, as…

The Science Belief Test is an online instrument comprised of 47 statements that require true or false responses and request written explanations to accompany these responses. It targets topics in chemistry, physics, biology, earth science, and astronomy and was initially designed to assess preservice elementary teachers' beliefs about general…

At Colorado College, the energy retrofit of a building is used as a service-learning research project to teach physics and chemistry in a variety of courses. In introductory courses for nonscience majors, the project helps students appreciate the scientific method and quantitative reasoning. Within the physical-chemistry course, students see that…