There are many transition points in the school life of a child, but the move from primary to secondary school is a particularly significant one. How can both the social and academic threads remain intact? In this article, Kristen Mould discusses the main issues relating to transition from primary to secondary science. She cites the primary factors…

Journal writing was introduced as a means to assess student learning and acceptance of evolutionary science in a nonmajors' biology course taught at a community college. Fourteen weeks of instruction were performed, each initiated by student-centered, in-class activities and culminated by a discussion, to elucidate tentative conclusions based on…

This study investigates the potential of five factors that may be predictive of success in college general chemistry courses: prior knowledge of common alternate conceptions, intelligence, scientific reasoning ability, proportional reasoning ability, and attitude toward chemistry. We found that both prior knowledge and scientific reasoning ability…

This study evaluated the differential effects of three different science teaching methods, namely engineering teaching kit (ETK), explicit instruction (EI), and a combination of the two methods (ETK+EI), in two sixth-grade science classrooms. Twelve students with learning disabilities (LD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)…

Much research has been conducted in educational robotics, a new instructional technology, for K-12 education. However, there are arguments on the effect of robotics and limited empirical evidence to investigate the impact of robotics in science learning. Also most robotics studies were carried in an informal educational setting. This study…

International comparisons reveal that lower-secondary-level students in Austria perform below the OECD mean in science. Guided by the search for remedies and improvements in science teaching, this study investigates whether cross-age peer tutoring is an appropriate method for teaching physics. A modern and concise definition of peer tutoring is…

Word problems are math- or science-related problems presented in the context of a story or real-life scenario. Literature suggests that, to solve these problems, advanced reading skills are required, in addition to content-related skills in, for example, mathematics. In the present study, we investigated the relation between students' reading…

Research in chemistry education has highlighted a number of variables that predict learning and performance, such as teacher-student interactions, academic motivation and metacognition. Most of this chemistry research has examined these variables by identifying dyadic relationships through bivariate correlations. The main purpose of this study was…

Computer and information technology can be used so that students can individually, in groups, or by electronic demonstration experiment and draw conclusion for the required activities in an electronic form in what is now called "e-lab". It enables students to conduct experiments more flexibly and in an interactive way using multimedia.…

Research has shown that autonomy support has positive effects on academic development, but no study has examined how systemising cognitive orientation is related to important outcomes for science students, and how it may interact with autonomy support. This prospective investigation considered how systemising and support from teachers and parents…

This article reports a systematic review of research on science programs in grades 6-12. Twenty-one studies met inclusion criteria including use of randomized or matched assignment to conditions, measures that assess content emphasized equally in experimental and control groups, and a duration of at least 12 weeks. Programs fell into four…

Transitioning from elementary school to middle school can be a difficult time for many adolescents. It is a period often correlated with a decline in students' academic achievement, perceptions of performance, potential, and value in schooling. Research has shown evidence that parents' involvement in their children's education significantly…

The Title I, Part A program is designed to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and achieve, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and assessments. The program's goal is accomplished by providing supplemental funding for educational…

The "Condition of Education" is an annual report mandated by the U.S. Congress that summarizes the latest data on education in the United States. This report uses data from across the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and from other sources and is designed to help policymakers and the public monitor educational progress.…

This study is concerned with the effects of computer simulations of two novel chemistry problems on the problem solving ability of students. A control-experimental group, equalized by pair groups (n[subscript Exp] = n[subscript Ctrl] = 78), research design was used. The students had no previous experience of chemical practical work. Student…