Across the United States, political leaders, educators, and business persons are issuing an urgent call for reform in STEM education (NGSS Lead States 2013). One important response to this call is Integrated STEM, which the National Governor's Association (2007, p. 7) says involves, "... an emphasis on design and problem solving in…

The development of computer-based experiment set has become necessary in teaching physics in schools so that students can learn from their real experiences. The purpose of this study is to create and to develop the computer-based experiment set on simple harmonic motion of mass on springs for teaching and learning physics. The average period of…

Despite successful attempts to improve learners' nature of science (NOS) conceptions through explicit, reflective approaches, retention of improved conceptions is rarely addressed in research. The issue of context for NOS instruction has implications for this retention. Whether to contextualise has been the question occupying science educators'…

This paper describes the development of Connected Chemistry as Formative Assessment (CCFA) pedagogy, which integrates three promising teaching and learning approaches, computer models, formative assessments, and learning progressions, to promote student understanding in chemistry. CCFA supports student learning in making connections among the…

The goal of this study was to create an accessible, inexpensive, and engaging experiment to teach high school and undergraduate chemistry or biology students about intermolecular forces and how they contribute to the behavior of biomolecules. We developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to probe specific structure-function…

The present study investigates the impact of utilizing virtual laboratory environments combining dynamically linked concrete and abstract representations in investigative activities on the ability of students to comprehend simple and complex phenomena in the field of electric circuits. Forty-two 16- to 17-year-old high school students participated…

Teacher-made teaching and learning resources are an effective way to facilitate relevant and appropriate curriculum content, values and attitudes for students. This is particularly significant when the context is rather unique, as was the case in the remote developing Pacific Island Country of Nauru. Such resources can be deployed in accompaniment…

Affect is a domain of psychology that includes attitudes, emotions, interests, and values. My own affect influenced the choice of topics for my dissertation. After examining asteroid interiors and the Moon's thermal evolution, I discuss the role of affect in online science education. I begin with asteroids, which are collections of smaller objects…

Focusing on the science knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge that teachers need to realize the vision of the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) in their classrooms, this study presents findings from efforts to (1) adapt existing criteria and design heuristics for educative features of curriculum materials to the needs of…

The aim of the research was to identify how Slovenian primary and secondary school students of various age groups explain the particulate nature of the states of matter of water and air. The qualitative research included five 12, 14, and 16 year old students. A semi-structured interview including four computer-displayed tasks was used for the data…

Studies on science education stress that, in terms of discourse, teachers need to carefully build their understanding of science, language, and authority to better enable students to be successful in their science learning. However, the question of how much attention should be paid to this discourse, particularly for primary and middle-school…

The ubiquitous use of social media by children offers a unique opportunity to view diverse funds of knowledge. Connecting learning to students' funds of knowledge is particularly important for non-dominant learners, who experience tensions between home, community and school science cultures. This study is embedded in a research project which…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative effectiveness of experimenting with physical manipulatives alone, virtual manipulatives alone, and virtual preceding physical manipulatives (combination environment) on third-grade students' science achievement and conceptual understanding in the domain of state changes of water, focusing…

Quantum mechanics (QMs) is a foundational subject in many science and engineering fields. It is difficult to teach, however, as it requires a fundamental revision of the assumptions and laws of classical physics and probability. Furthermore, introductory QM courses and texts predominantly focus on the mathematical formulations of the subject and…

The focal course for this study, Pharmaceutics I, is a foundational course for the first year students (P1) enrolled in the in the PharmD program. It focuses on helping students create integrative bridges between the prepharm chemistry courses and the clinical courses in the PharmD curriculum. The main expected outcome of this course is that…