Urban gifted children encounter many forces that derail the development of their full potential. A report by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and Civic Enterprises found that more than a million children in poverty rank in the top quartile academically, but few of these children will find adequate opportunities to fulfill such potential in urban…

The initiative to increase highly qualified college STEM graduates coupled with the phrase "science for all" pushed by standards-based reform has opened an avenue for science education research. How can we increase students' interests in science careers? Specifically, do marginalized groups require differing instructional approaches to increase…

Involving students in authentic science work is one way to enhance their interest in science. This paper reports a project in which Year 4-7 students actively participated in a study that involved the provision of a suitable nesting site for local turtles. The students collected data on turtle nests at the site and evidence of turtle hatchlings at…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among science content knowledge, understanding the Learning Cycle, and self-efficacy among preservice teachers. Preservice teachers enrolled in an elementary science-methods course were categorized as Fearful, Disinterested, Successful, or Enthusiastic science learners based on differing…

Very often controversies contribute to the development of science. An example is the conflict between Liebig and Wohler on the occasion of their analyses of fulminates and cyanates, which showed that compounds with different properties could have the same composition. Their results, together with other similar evidences, led Berzelius to recognize…

In the late 1990s, the physics department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had a problem. The department was responsible for teaching the two required physics courses that are part of the General Institute Requirements (GIRs), MIT's core curriculum--Physics I (mechanics, or in MIT parlance, 8.01) and Physics II (electricity and…

This paper investigates the issue of how emotions such as disgust influence students' self-efficacy belief in terms of mastering a dissection task and also how these affect their interest in the biology of the heart. Following models of intrinsic motivation and the development of motivation, we expected disgust to negatively impact on students'…

In an integrated science/language arts/technology unit called "How Scientists Learn," students researched famous scientists from the past and cutting-edge modern-day scientists. Using biography trade books and the internet, students collected and recorded data on charts, summarized important information, and inferred meaning from text. Then they…

Science, like most subjects, can only come alive when students are actively engaged in real-life pursuits that interest and challenge them (VanTassel-Baska and Bass 1998). Here the author describes how she was able to bring science to life for her middle school students through a series of Science Safaris--inquiry-based excursions to a variety of…

Most studies indicate primary students' attitudes towards and interest in science decline as they progress into the secondary years. Longitudinal qualitative research exploring this phenomenon is rare as is research which focuses on the students' voice as they cross the interface. In this study multiple qualitative data sources, supported by a…

The research examined the effect of a teaching strategy emphasizing on instructional congruence on students' interests towards learning science. This study was conducted in three "low performing" secondary schools in Penang, Malaysia. There were 214 students involved in this study. A questionnaire was utilized to collect data on…

Using an extended model of social cognitive career theory, this study investigated ways in which African American middle school adolescents perceive racism and the associations among various aspects of perceptions of racism, other background factors, and math-based career interests, efficacy, and outcome expectations. Results indicated that…

A solution to the Rubik's Cube was introduced to an eighth grade mathematics class. The purpose of this study was to determine if an introduction to a solution to the Rubik's Cube could enhance students' problem-solving abilities, increase their general interest in mathematics, and enhance students' problem solving self-efficacy. Pre and Post…

Practitioners in informal science settings--museums, after-school programs, science and technology centers, media enterprises, libraries, aquariums, zoos, and botanical gardens--are interested in finding out what learning looks like, how to measure it, and what they can do to ensure that people of all ages, from different backgrounds and cultures,…

Game-based learning and designing has become a hot topic in educational technology. It is believed that video gaming is one way to get students engaged in learning complex and ill-structured material, holistic learning, and preparing learners for 21st century jobs. However, beyond engagement, games may also be used for learning and developing…