There have been many studies related to the implementation of cooperative learning. However, there are still many problems in school related to the learning outcomes on science lesson, especially in physics. The aim of this study is to observe the application of science learning cycle (SLC) model on improving scientific literacy for secondary…

Semiconductors are an important class of materials; preparing ZnO nanorods allows semiconducting properties to be easily observed. The week before lab, groups of four students take 15 min to setup two fluorine-doped tin oxide glass (FTO) slides in a zinc nitrate and hexamethylenetetramine solution stored at 90°C until the next lab. Hexagonal ZnO…

Zeolite Y has an iconic crystal structure, but more importantly, the hydrogen modification zeolite H-Y is the classic example of a solid acid which is used extensively as a catalyst in the oil industry. This metastable compound cannot be synthesized directly, which creates an opportunity to discuss various preparative strategies with the students,…

The concept of electric current is fundamental in the study of electrical engineering (EE). Students are often exposed to this concept in their daily lives and early in middle school education. Lower-division university courses are usually limited to the study of passive electronic devices and simple electric circuits. Semiconductor physics is an…

We all know that we must improve the quality of teaching in science at all levels. Not only physicists but also many students from other areas of study take the introductory physics courses in college. Physics introductory laboratories (labs) can be one of the best tools to help these students understand applications of scientific principles that…

To convey the magnitude and rapidity of current climate change and the severity of predictions for the next century, I present essential climate science information using four key sets of data and contextualize that information with personal anecdotes. I then consider the reasons for the large gap between the scientific consensus about…

This study aims to characterize a group of students' preliminary oral explanations of a scientific phenomenon produced as part of their learning process. The students were encouraged to use their own wordings to test out their own interpretation of observations when conducting practical activities. They presented their explanations orally in the…

Children's developing reasoning skills are better understood within the context of their social and cultural lives. As part of a research-museum partnership, this article reports a study exploring science-relevant conversations of 82 families, with children between 3 and 11 years, while visiting a children's museum exhibit about mammoth bones, and…

Several concept inventories have been developed to elicit students' alternative conceptions in chemistry. It is suggested that heuristic reasoning may bias students' answers in these types of assessments toward intuitively appealing choices. If this is the case, one could expect students to improve their performance by engaging in more analytical…

A structured inquiry experiment for inorganic synthesis has been developed to introduce undergraduate students to advanced spectroscopic techniques including paramagnetic nuclear magnetic resonance and electron paramagnetic resonance. Students synthesize multiple complexes with unknown first row transition metals and identify the unknown metals by…

In the context of what are often highly compartmentalised curriculum requirements, this article considers the cyclical nature of the acquisition and transfer of knowledge in the education system in relation to those questions that transcend individual subjects as set out in traditional curriculum divisions. It also considers the detrimental…

Socio-scientific teaching and learning (SSI-TL) has been suggested as an effective approach for supporting meaningful learning in school contexts; however, limited tools exist to support the work of designing and implementing this approach. In this paper, we draw from a series of four design based research projects that have produced SSI…

This study is part of a dissertation which aims to explore and understand the role of play in the teaching-learning process at elementary level in a public school at Pernambuco, Brazil. We opted for a qualitative approach, using the interactive methodology, interviews by the technique of hermeneutic-dialectical circle, observations of science…

Models related to the topic of chemical kinetics are critical for predicting and explaining chemical reactivity. Here we present a qualitative study of 15 general chemistry students' reasoning about a method of initial rates task. We asked students to discuss their understanding of the terms rate law and initial rate, and then analyze rate and…

Siloxane polymers and silicone materials are major components in most people's daily lives and are important in a wide variety of applications. However, despite their undeniable importance, they are often overlooked in the traditional undergraduate education, as they do not fall neatly into the traditional categories of organic or inorganic…