The purpose of this activity is to model the expansion of the universe by investigating the behavior of water waves. It is designed for students in the upper grades of physics and physical science who are learning about the wave nature of light and are ready to discover such important questions about science. The article explains first the Doppler…

Archaeology provides the chance to ask questions about human culture, past and present, using artifacts as evidence. By studying archaeology, students learn about how people in their region found and prepared food, responded to changes in their environment (e.g., flooding, earthquakes, droughts), and interacted with other peoples. This article…

In this project, we explore the use of threshold concept theory as a design basis for development of Interactive Virtual Laboratories in thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is a difficult subject for chemical and biological engineering students to master. One reason for the difficulty is the diverse and challenging set of threshold concepts that they…

Scientific reasoning and scientific argumentation are highly valued outcomes of K-12 and higher education. In this article, we first review main topics and key findings of three different strands of research, namely research on the development of scientific reasoning, research on scientific argumentation, and research on approaches to support…

Science education is criticized because it often fails to support problem-solving skills in students. Instead, the instructional methods primarily emphasize didactic models that fail to engage students and reveal how the material can be applied to solve real problems. To overcome these limitations, this study asked participants in a general…

When high school students are asked what's the best part of science class, many will say it's the field trips. Students enjoy engaging in authentic, community-based science outside the classroom. To capitalize on this, Patrick Willis created the Bird Box Survey Project for his introductory field biology class. The project takes students…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 20103) identify evidence-based argumentation as a key practice in science education. This argumentation comes in many forms, each providing a unique theoretical perspective and area of educational research. Argumentation can help model aspects of scientific culture and…

This paper reports an initial study on investigating inquiry-based learning in science in an upper primary class guided by an inquiry-based learning model in a seamless learning environment. Two questions are addressed: (1) how students advanced their domain knowledge?; and (2) how students developed their inquiry skills? One teacher and 27…

Social media provide a unique arena in which chemists can communicate directly with an international audience from a wide range of backgrounds. In particular, YouTube offers a rich environment through which students of chemistry and members of the general public can be engaged, and chemophobia can be addressed. This article describes the…

Science is at heart a practical subject, but the perception of what makes good teaching and learning through practical science is often misunderstood. Through working with teachers on professional development courses at the UK's National Science Learning Centre, and drawing on work carried out by other organisations, we present some thoughts and…

Using errors as a method of learning has been made explicit through a two-staged peer review and discussion. During organic chemistry discussion sessions, quizzes are followed by a structured peer review designed to help students identify and discuss student errors. After the face-to-face discussion, a second stage of review involves analyzing and…

Electromagnetic induction is probably one of the most challenging subjects for students in the introductory physics sequence, especially in algebra-based courses. Yet it is at the heart of many of the devices we rely on today. To help students grasp and retain the concept, we have put together a simple and dramatic classroom demonstration that…

How do students with visual impairments measure liquids? Can a student with cerebral palsy participate in hands-on science activities? What challenges might a hearing-impaired student have in my science class? These are just some of the important questions increasingly being asked by science teachers, thanks in part to the Individuals with…

It seems each new school year brings its own opportunities to grow as an educator. As teachers in a STEM focused school that serves primarily at-risk students, the authors face a new challenge in rethinking their instruction to align with the "Next Generation Science Standards". This involves changing the focus of units previously taught…

This study was aimed to determine pre-service teachers' views about science centers and museums, as out-of-the-school learning environments, through case study. For that purpose, the pre-service teachers were provided to participate in out-of-the-school learning environments which were designed in a structured way, and their attitudes and views…