In this article, a series of activities on explicit teaching of specific aspects of the 'nature of science' are presented. The authors explore teaching the nature of science through inquiry-based activities on electric circuits. The activities concern classification of objects as conductors or insulators and took place in three classes of 4th…

Scientific inquiry has been advocated as a common curriculum goal in school science education in South Africa, and also throughout the world. In South Africa, the introduction of inquiry-based instruction in a reformed science curriculum has met with serious challenges, such as the under-preparedness of in-service teachers. The purpose of this…

Undergraduate biology education has changed over the past decade, incorporating an iterative and evidence-based approach. Many educational assessments have confirmed the effectiveness of integrating authentic research and open-ended inquiry into introductory biology courses, demonstrating a significant positive impact on students' learning and…

This article discusses how the teaching of qualitative research in higher education is threatened by the effects of new public management, by academic culture wars and by a growing belief in big data. The controversy over Alice Goffman's book "On the Run" presents one recent example of this. In an effort to counterbalance these…

Educators are now moving classroom instructional objectives away from "what content do we need to know" towards "how can we support learners in the process of inquiry." Consequently, an increasing number of schools have revamped their curricula to support students. One such example of modified curricula is the rising trend of…

While the culture of many mathematics departments inflects strongly towards STEM, most mathematics departments also offer a significant number of introductory courses intended for both STEM and non-STEM majors. We are a group of mathematicians who, in this work, examine the intent and goals of a university mathematics education for the non-STEM…

Out-of-school making and engineering programmes that are frequently positioned as playful have increased dramatically in recent years -- but how appropriate is the framing of play for engagement in these informal STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) spaces? Drawing on data from two research sites located in the UK, including…

Leveraging a team's diverse perspectives can be a powerful way to foster team innovation. A common approach to leverage team differences involves tool-based approaches, including brainstorming, mind-mapping, and whiteboarding. However, the effective use of ideational tools as a means to innovation often assumes high levels of team cohesion and…

Studies on teacher education have given increasing attention to pedagogical content knowledge (PCK): the knowledge necessary for teaching specific content as a theoretical construct. As a component of the teacher's professional knowledge base, orientations toward teaching science (OTS) are critical to developing the PCK needed for inquiry-based…

Problem solving follows a cycle of inquiry where the individual iterates between finding possible paths and exploring their likely effectiveness before selecting one as a possible solution. The cycle is enhanced through proximal processes because the number of paths that can be explored in depth are greater when more people work on the same…

In the Netherlands, academically oriented programmes for primary teacher education have recently been established. The aim of this study is to provide insight in the extent to which graduates from these academically oriented programmes are involved in different forms of inquiry-based working and which factors promote or hinder this involvement.…

This paper provides the first review and illustration of technology-use strategies for supporting student learning in different integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning environments. An integrated STEM learning environment may focus on integrating and learning science and mathematics or integrating and learning…

The main purpose of this study is to explore the epistemological problems underlying pre-service chemistry teachers' aims in using practical work, "i.e.," individual or small group object manipulation or observation, in school science. Twenty-two pre-service chemistry teachers participated in this study. Qualitative data collection tools…

Despite the theoretical argument and empirical evidence regarding the impact of self- assessment on academic achievement and self-regulated learning (SRL), the mechanism for this impact is understudied. The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of self-assessment practices at different SRL phases and its relationship with academic…

This paper provides a Deweyian analysis of "Australia's Ethical Understanding General Capability" curriculum documents, which outline a promising moral education curriculum for students aged 4-17 years. The moral development of students has long been identified as a key aim of schooling. However, schools seldom have time for dedicated…