Research indicates that students' interest in science decreases during their school years. To counteract this, a quasi-experimental instructional intervention was designed in which we addressed students' leisure interests to foster their (situational) interest in physics. Students in the intervention group got the opportunity to choose topics…

The present study investigates how Greek in-service secondary education biology teachers understand the unique features of school biology and physics when considering the biological theoretical edifice and method. Our theoretical framework focuses on important differences that exist between the neo-Darwinian and Newtonian worldviews, while our…

Graduates in biology or genetics learn Mendel's laws and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium as students, and they know, use, and sometimes teach these concepts. However, it is unusual to learn about stochastic processes during the graduate studies of these topics, although the applications of Markov chains in the fields of genetics or biology are…

As an introduction to sound and vibration, the authors wanted their first-grade students to plan and conduct their own investigations. In this article, the authors share a series of investigations to help students explore the relationship between sound and vibration. By planning, creating, testing, adapting, and reflecting on the outcomes of the…

When instructors assess students' laboratory reports to appraise the underlying scientific reasoning, they disclose their own concerns, epistemological assumptions and beliefs about science. The analysis of such assessments (i.e. rubric-centred scores and corresponding justificatory comments) offer a wealth of insights that can be re-engaged in…

This lesson used the correspondence of Charles Darwin as an exploration of nature of science (NOS) in a historical context. Specifically, we used his original correspondence about his "provisional hypothesis" of pangenesis as a novel way to explore a scientist's social community. Darwin's community of friends and colleagues in the…

Numerous studies have shown that a considerable number of students do not accept the theory of evolution, prompting the scientific community to seek ways to improve how lessons on evolution are designed in order to promote students' acceptance. A crucial factor identified in many studies is students' comprehension of the nature of science and…

Explicit-reflective nature of science (NOS) instruction has demonstrated a positive impact on student learning. Although explicit-reflective NOS instruction often consists of questions that draw students' attention to NOS ideas, there are few recommendations in the science education literature about how the form of these questions might inform NOS…

In one of the Faraday's experiments an electric current is induced in a conducting loop when a magnet in front of it moves towards or away from the loop. While the direction of circulation of the electric current in the loop has only two options, it depends on three experimental conditions that generate eight cases. Even though the Faraday law or…

It is well known that Newton's work on mechanics depended in a crucial way on the previous observations of Galileo. The key insight of Galileo was that one can analyze the motion of bodies using experiments and mathematical equations. One experimental observation that roughly emerges from this work in modern terms is that two objects of different…

Bridges are a popular topic in this journal, because they are a very visual display of static and dynamic physical principles. In this paper, we provide an intuitive derivation of the equations associated with suspension bridge cables and load-bearing arches, which is of pedagogical interest in illustrating the consequences of Newton's laws for…

The principle of relativity is of fundamental importance in practice when we are solving problems in physics since the axiom states that the result of any physical experiment is the same when performed with identical initial conditions relative to any inertial coordinate system. Hence, conceptual knowledge of coordinate systems is central in any…

Design activities can serve as a concrete experience to address the similarities and differences between science and engineering, and also demarcate engineering from tinkering. They can lay the foundation for concept development of targeted disciplinary ideas. Minor, but crucial, changes to classroom tinkering activities along with targeting and…

This article reports on the effect of textbook analysis as a tool of teacher professional development on nature of science (NOS) understanding of 10 science teachers in South Africa. The teacher professional development program (TPDP) was based on an explicit reflective methodology of textbook analysis and conducted online due to the Covid-induced…

Students and educators often face time constraints, making it essential to develop interventions that are both easy to implement and have a substantial impact on learning and performance. One promising strategy is retrieval practice, particularly in the context of physics education, where many students struggle with basic knowledge. Prior research…