In this article, an approach to integrate contemporary quantum physics into secondary school teaching is presented. The Erlanger concept on quantum optics provides an experimental-based guideway to aspects of modern quantum physics. We avoid the traditional historical approach in order to overcome the lack of modern concepts of quantum physics. In…

A quasi-experimental control group pre- and post-test study was used to determine the effect of a Multi-Step Inquiry (MSI) approach on pre-service elementary school teacher's conceptual understanding. The MSI study involved the development of a conceptual workbook, and a Physical Science Concept Inventory. The conceptual workbook has activities…

This paper examines where science fits within the early years foundation stage developmental framework and aims to create an understanding of common science practice within the early years, with particular focus on practice at Balham Nursery School and Children's Centre. Within the paper both theory and a range of practical examples are…

Chemists refer to chemical phenomena on different representational levels--macroscopic, symbolic, and submicroscopic--which are directly related and connected to each other. Especially in the laboratory, students have to reason about various mechanistic features at the submicroscopic level and connect them in a meaningful way to make sense of the…

This mixed-method study examined the influence of metacognitive awareness on the change in preservice chemistry teachers' understandings of gas behavior in the context of multirepresentational (MR) instruction. The goal was to describe the types of understanding of gas behavior held by a group of participants with high metacognitive awareness (MA)…

Tutorials in introductory physics (TIP) are a well known resource for use in third level insititutions for developing students' understanding of physics concepts. However, this resource is only sparingly used at second level. This study presents an adaptation of the approach taken in TIP to enhance the understanding of vector addition of a group…

Science students are increasingly challenged to use technical language related to the topics that they are studying, and therefore, science teachers benefit from knowing which tools are effective to support students in learning to use new terms. This study examined the impact of using one such tool--sentences frames--to teach science vocabulary,…

At the University of Applied Health Sciences, the iPad tablets are used at the undergraduate professional study programs Environmental Health Engineering and Laboratory Medical Diagnostics as part of the practical classes in Biology and Chemistry. Four applications are used within the framework of the unit titled "Preparing Solutions",…

The identification of students' mental models is crucial in understanding their knowledge of scientific concepts. This research aimed to develop a Mental Models Representation Instrument on Newton's Laws (MeMoRI-NL). The ADDIE (Analyzing, Designing, Developing, Implementing and Evaluating) model was used as a research method. The sample consisted…

The excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation, natural or artificial, is a public health concern. For this reason, it is important that, from an early age, children and teenagers gain awareness of this problem. By not being visible to the human eye, ultraviolet radiation is an abstract concept and difficult to understand, although its short-term…

Recent reforms in science education highlight the need for student-centred approaches to teaching in school curriculum policy in South Africa. Science teachers are required to move away from traditional teacher-centred practices which regard students as mere passive recipients of knowledge. In this study, we examine classroom talk for the type of…

We have developed assessment tasks aligned to NGSS that require students to use practices along with disciplinary core ideas to make sense of energy-related phenomena. In this paper, we present an analysis of field test data and feedback from expert reviewers on the validity and reliability of a set of elementary school tasks. These tasks focused…

The Kaleidophone, invented by Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875) in 1827, is a delightful mixture of physics and art. A typical example of the device, dating from the latter part of the 19th century, is shown in Fig. 1. The upright rods, which are approximately 25 cm in length, are of variously circular, oval, square, and rectangular cross section,…

Two challenges science teachers face are identifying misconceptions students have about how the world operates and getting past those misconceptions. Students' prior conceptions often conflict with the content educators are trying to teach. The gateway to revealing and changing such misconceptions, Fouché says, is predictive questioning. As they…

It is a common practice to fix a vertical gnomon and study the moving shadow cast by it. This shows our local solar time and gives us a hint regarding the season in which we perform the observation. The moving shadow can also tell us our latitude with high precision. In this paper we propose to exchange the roles and while keeping the shadows…