Science tends to be viewed as a completely separate subject area from reading and math. This is the case even in elementary school, where academic content may be more intertwined than in later years. But scientific thinking and processes are valuable across all areas of learning and for career success. Waiting until the middle grades to give…

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to examine how novice special education teachers perceive administrative support during the first five years of teaching. This study was guided by the Cooperrider's appreciative inquiry (AI), and the Critical Systems theory (CST) conceptual framework. Purposeful sampling was used to select…

During this action research study of Algebra I teachers at a high school in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, I have presented information related to the implementation of inquiry-based learning (IBL) and the findings from classroom observations and a focus group interview. The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of IBL instructional…

The National Council for the Social Studies recommends high-quality access to academic content in the social studies domains (history, government, economics, and civics) to improve in-school performance and postschool civic and community outcomes for students in K-12 schools. To date, limited research information exists to inform social studies…

In this study, we work towards a strategy to measure and enhance the quality of interactions in discussion forums at scale. We present a machine learning (ML) model which identifies the phase of cognitive presence exhibited by a student's post and suggest future applications of such a model to help online students develop higher-order thinking. We…

In this study, we analyzed the literature on teaching or learning on a topic in Earth science, environmental science, or climate change between 1995 and 2017. We investigated the length of the intervention, intervention setting and instructional level, instructional purpose, pedagogical framing and pedagogical methods (including what materials and…

Critical thinking and problem-solving skills are necessary skills in the 21st century learning. However, the initial tests of students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills showed low scores. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to improve students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills through the POGIL (Process Oriented Guided…

How do scientists make inferences for something they cannot directly observe? The Black Box approach seems ideal to help students understand how scientists work. Black Boxes are sealed units; their interior is not accessible. The effort to determine their possible content (internal structure) demands successive modifications in hypothesis,…

The study investigated the effects of a technology-integrated guided inquiry-based approach on pre-service mathematics teachers' conceptual understanding of geometry when compared to a guided inquiry approach and a traditional teacher-centered approach. A non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design was used. A…

This transcendental phenomenological qualitative study examined two middle school social studies teachers that worked with an instructional coach to use their classroom textbook to transform the curriculum by using the College, Career, and Civic (C3) Life framework. Both teachers implemented several attributes and characteristics from the…

Both the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework and Problem Based Learning (PBL) pedagogy encourage the use of compelling and supporting questions as a central element of the teaching and learning process. Some researchers, however, assert that the ideals of constructivist PBL may fall short of intended outcomes by leaving too much at the…

This paper advocates for the inclusion of big questions into the basic course curriculum. It begins by exploring the nature of big questions as those that engage pressing and perennial civic and global issues, and details their effectiveness in encouraging students and faculty to think about interpersonal responsibility and social space as…

Curiosity is a wonder of the human mind. It goes to the heart of modernity, as a driving force for learning, novel insights, and innovation, both for individuals and communities. In societies dependent on science and development, finding out what promotes or hampers curiosity and wonder in school curricula and science education is accordingly…

While the use of inquiry-based instruction has been encouraged for many years, it continues to be the exception rather than the norm. The publication of the "College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework," as well as the Inquiry Design Model that provides structure for its implementation, offer support for teachers to use inquiry in…

This systematic review provides a summary of studies on teaching, social, and cognitive presences in the community of inquiry (CoI) model using the CoI instrument in a higher education setting since its development in 2008 by Arbaugh et al. A total of 24 peer-reviewed studies on the CoI instrument from 2008-2017 were selected and analyzed explore…