Curricular reform efforts depend on our ability to determine how courses are taught and how instructional practices affect student outcomes. In this study, we developed a 30-question survey on inquiry-based learning and assessment in undergraduate laboratory courses that was administered to 878 students in 54 courses (41 introductory level and 13…

The two-year study aimed to explore how students' development of different inquiry abilities actually benefited from the design of technology-infused learning modules. Three learning modules on the topics of seasons, environmental issues and air pollution were developed to facilitate students' inquiry abilities: questioning, planning, analyzing,…

New approaches to instruction are needed in all educational levels in order to develop the skills suited to the twenty-first century (i.e., inquiry, problem solving, innovation, entrepreneurship, technological communication, experimental design, and investigativeness). This research evaluated the outcomes of an approach aiming to develop such…

Teaching ecosystem services provides an ideal opportunity to use inquiry-based learning to help students make connections between ecological, geological, and social systems. The idea of ecosystem services, or the benefits nature provides to society, has emerged as a key concept in a host of environmental fields and is just beginning to gain…

The OECD is planning to enhance existing PISA assessment instruments in reading, mathematics and science so that they will be more suitable to the context of developing countries. The main purpose of this paper is to identify the main technical issues associated with this aim. The paper reports detailed analysis of the existing PISA item pool and…

The decline in hummingbird populations and shifts in their movements may adversely affect their role as pollinators and, in turn, plant biodiversity (Allen-Wardell et al. 1998). For example, Hadley et al. (2014) discovered that larger fragments of forest correlated with larger hummingbird populations and more seeds of "H. tortuosa" being…

This study reports on preservice teachers' reported feelings of confidence with learning and teaching science relative to their participation in a science enrichment program. Through Saturday Science, local families are invited to explore various topics with hands-on activities designed and facilitated by students in an early childhood education…

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is a term seen almost daily in the news. In 2009, President Obama launched the Educate to Innovate initiative to move American students from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade (The White House, n.d.). Learning about the attributes of STEM…

This paper presents an activity that engages students in model-based reasoning, requiring them to predict the behavior of the trp and lac operons under different environmental conditions. Students are presented six scenarios for the "trp" operon and five for the "lac" operon. In most of the scenarios, specific mutations have…

For students to attain deep understanding of scientific practices, they will need to have opportunities to participate in sustained engagement in doing science. Such opportunities begin with elementary teachers implementing coherent and well-sequenced inquiry-based investigations in their classrooms. This study explored how preservice teachers (N…

EngQuest, an initiative of Engineers Australia, provides an exciting, non-competitive way for students to participate in free, fun and educational engineering activities involving mathematics, science and technology. This article provides a sample of one of the middle school activities in the program. The history of water wheels, and their use…

The aim of this research is identify the effectiveness of a multiple representation-based learning model, which builds a mental model within the concept of atomic structure. The research sample of 108 students in 3 classes is obtained randomly from among students of Mathematics and Science Education Studies using a stratified random sampling…

Typical assessment systems often measure isolated ideas rather than the coherent understanding valued in current science classrooms. Such assessments may motivate students to memorize, rather than to use new ideas to solve complex problems. To meet the requirements of the Next Generation Science Standards, instruction needs to emphasize sustained…

This study was conducted in order to determine the differences in integrated scientific process skills (designing experiments, forming data tables, drawing graphs, graph interpretation, determining the variables and hypothesizing, changing and controlling variables) of students (n = 17) who were taught with an approach based on scientific…

This paper reports on findings from a research project concerned with how electronic networking tools (e-networked tools), such as the Internet, online forums, and mobile technologies, can support authentic science inquiry in junior secondary classrooms. It focuses on three qualitative case studies involving science teachers from two high schools…