In this study, high school physics textbooks published by People's Education Press (PEP) and Educational Science Publishing House (ESP) (a total of 6 books) in China were analyzed via a self-developed scale measuring nature of science (NOS) including three first-level indicators of scientific knowledge, scientific process, and scientific…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) increase student engagement in scientific practices and empower students to generate novel findings. Previous studies have demonstrated that CUREs are more effective at enhancing students' motivations, attitudes, science identity development, and acquisition of science process skills than…

Wave optics is a mandatory part of Croatian secondary school physics curriculum for students in the final year of secondary school (age 18-19). Many physics education research studies have shown that it is a difficult physics topic for both university and secondary school students. An inquiry-based teaching sequence on wave optics, designed for…

As a "wicked problem," climate change requires interdisciplinary understanding and collaboration in order to prepare future leaders to develop solutions. To this end, as an ecologist and an anthropologist at a mid-sized university in the southeastern U.S., we designed a pair of interdisciplinary, research-intensive courses for first-year…

Nitrate is a crucial parameter for assessing water quality, owing to its dual function in ecological systems. These functions can be beneficial or detrimental depending on whether nitrate concentrations are low or high, respectively. The ultraviolet spectrophotometric method (standard as 4500-NO[subscript 3]--B) is a classic method for determining…

Ability to adequately analyze educational situations is essential not only for (pre-service) teachers' occupational decisions, but also for their own professional development. This study represents an evaluation of the observation practice aimed at pre-service chemistry teachers' (N = 12) professional vision development. They attended chemistry…

The aim of the study was to determine the correlations between preservice science teachers' beliefs about the nature of science and their scientific inquiry and communication skills. The study group of the research was composed of 329 pre-service science teachers who are studying at Aydin Adnan Menderes and Mugla Universities of Turkey during the…

In this study, we aimed to determine the effects of Web 2.0 animation tools for science education on 4th-graders' academic achievements and basic skills, as well as their attitudes and motivations towards science courses. The study was designed with pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental pattern. The sample consisted of 4th-grade…

Background: The recommendation from national documents and reports to promote inquiry-related science activities has not been supported by recent studies, which have found the overall frequency of inquiry activities to be negatively associated with student learning outcomes. This study was inspired by such conflicting reports and aimed to clarify…

We describe the development, design, implementation, and preliminary classroom results of an innovative curriculum, "Focus on Energy," that supports learning about energy in Grades 4-5. The curriculum is grounded in the concepts of science as practice, model-based reasoning, and learning progressions, and builds on students' pre-existing…

Facilitating discussions is a key approach that science teachers use to engage students in scientific argumentation. However, learning how to facilitate argumentation-focused discussions is an ambitious teaching practice that can be difficult to learn how to do well, especially for preservice teachers (PSTs) who typically have limited…

Modeling, which is the process of constructing, testing, and refining models, is an important skill in experimental physics, and thus a learning goal of many physics laboratory classes. One promising approach to help students develop modeling skills is to incorporate multiweek student-designed projects into lab courses. In order to assess the…

Cartoons are an effective alternative to create a rich learning environment that is visually and audibly equipped for students in an effective science education. It is of upmost significant for science teachers to possess the necessary knowledge, activity experience and equipment in order to carry out a qualified science teaching. Therefore, the…

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of activities based on scientific process skills on problem-solving skills of 4th grade students in science lessons. In the study a non-equivalent control group pre-test and post-test design type of quasi-experimental method was used. The research study group was composed of 30 students with 15…

The evolving digital world requires scientifically literate citizens who are able to critically evaluate Internet sources of varying credibility. Instruction on evidence evaluation in postsecondary education often focuses on peer-review as a singular indicator of credibility. With increased access to web-based scientific information, students must…