Science teaching deals with abstract concepts and processes that very often cannot be seen or touched. The development of Java, Flash, and other web-based applications allow teachers and educators to present complex animations that attractively illustrate scientific phenomena. Our study evaluated the integration of web-based animated movies into…

This study investigated contextual changes in perceptions of science teaching self-efficacy through pre-, post- and retrospective administrations of the Science Teaching Expectancy Belief Instrument (STEBI-B) among preservice elementary teachers when exposed to a science teaching methods course. Findings revealed that the number of postsecondary…

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of computer-aided Perspective Drawings on eighth grade primary school students' achievement in Spatial Orientation and Perspective Drawing. The study made use of pre-test post-test control group experimental design. The study was conducted with thirty 8th grade students attending a primary school…

Teacher preparation programs have been under attack by policy makers in the last decade, and teacher educators are constantly striving to improve their programs. Yet, there are several research-based practices that have been shown to be effective for developing teachers. In this article, the author summarizes a study in one science methods course…

Learning science for bilingual students involves much more than mastering concepts and science process skills. Although classroom investigations and hands-on activities promote comprehension, bilingual learners still experience specific language difficulties related to unfamiliar discourse structures and grammatical forms that must be used while…

In an effort to improve science and social studies instruction, preservice teachers developed original science, technology, and society units to teach in elementary and middle school classrooms during their clinical field experience. Data revealed that the preservice teachers fell into categories of being skeptics, open-minded instructors, or…

This qualitative case study aimed to focus on the experiences and subsequent science and science teaching beliefs, attitudes, and self-efficacy of an elementary pre-service teacher, Heather, with extremely positive attitude and high self-efficacy. For this particular population of pre-service teachers, possessing a high science teaching…

Mobile learning has been recommended for motivating students on field trips; nevertheless, owing to the complexity and the richness of the learning resources from both the real-world and the digital-world environments, information overload remains one of the major concerns. Most mobile learning designs provide feedback only for multiple choice…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)'s emphasis of reading, language arts, and mathematics (RLA&M) and its de-emphasis of science has been a source of great concern among educators. Through an objectivist and constructionist framework, this study explored the unforeseen effects of the NCLB on public science education among Title I (TI) and…

Not all students with disabilities receive special education accommodations in science class. Without special education support, students with disabilities are unable to comprehend and apply science concepts. Implementing a co-teaching model could be a remedy for this lack of supports. Framed by constructivist theory, this study sought to…

Formative assessment, assessment used to inform subsequent learning, can have a powerful positive impact on student achievement, but little empirical work has been conducted to investigate the role of teachers' knowledge in its practice. This study investigated reciprocal relations between elementary science teachers' formative assessment…

The demographic changes in Greek schools underline the need for reconsidering the way in which migrant pupils move from their everyday culture into the culture of school science (a process known as "cultural border crossing"). Migrant pupils might face difficulties when they attempt to transcend cultural borders and this may influence…

For the past five years, teachers from four Houston-area school districts have joined together in a professional learning community (PLC) to improve their science teaching. Through the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) Regional Collaborative for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching, the teachers strengthen content knowledge and…

The knowledge children bring to the classroom or construct in the classroom may find expression in a variety of activities and is often not measurable with the traditional assessment instruments used in science classrooms. Different approaches to assessment are required to accommodate the various ways in which learners construct knowledge in…

This mixed-method, dual-phase, embedded-case study employed the Social Cognitive Theory and the construct of self-efficacy to examine the contributors to science teaching self-efficacy and science teaching practices across different levels of efficacy in six pre-service elementary teachers during their science methods course and student teaching…