English learners are faced with the dual challenge of acquiring English while learning academic content through the medium of the new language (Lee et al. in "J Res Sci Teach" 45(6):726-747, 2008; Stoddart et al. in "J Res Sci Teach" 39(8):664-687, 2002) and therefore need specific accommodations to achieve in both English and the content areas.…

We describe a classroom exercise to allow students to explore foraging strategies in higher vertebrates. The exercise includes an initial interactive session in which students act as predators and are guided through foraging simulations, and a subsequent student-led session where classmates are employed as experimental subjects. Students rated the…

The purpose of this study is to examine key research themes in human performance technology (HPT) through content analysis of the 20 most influential articles identified in Cho, Jo, Park, Kang, and Chen (2011). Three questions guiding this inquiry are: (1) What are the key themes of the 20 most influential articles in "PIQ", (2) What information…

Despite the profound impact of action research coaches on teachers' experiences of the inquiry process, little research exists in the field regarding the coach's role. In this exploratory study, two groups of action research coaches--one novice and one experienced--share their experiences of coaching inquiry during the 2009/10 school year. Out of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between teachers' attitudes toward science, knowledge and beliefs about inquiry, and science classroom teaching practices. Specifically, the study addressed three questions: What are teachers' beliefs and knowledge about inquiry? What are teachers' teaching related classroom practices? Do…

Exemplary science instructors use inquiry to tailor content to student's learning needs; traditional textbooks treat science as a set of facts and a rigid curriculum. Publishers now allow instructors to compile pieces of published and/or self-authored text to make custom textbooks. This brings numerous advantages, including the ability to produce…

This article describes the process, tools, and benefits of engaging highly gifted middle-school age students in producing historical documentaries. Dallas Price, a sixth-grade teacher in a self-contained public school program for highly gifted students, highlights the project components that help students develop twenty-first-century skills within…

Although educational researchers predominately study complex, multidimensional problems, research findings and proposed arguments can sometimes be characterized as definite, simplified, and prone to particular types of answers or expected outcomes. The authors seek to problematize these definite and simplified notions of answers by looking at some…

This article describes a new instructional model called Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI). This model is designed to promote student engagement in processes of investigation design and scientific argumentation. In this study, the ADI instructional model is compared with a more traditional approach to instruction across 16 laboratory sections of…

"A Framework for K-12 Science Education" identifies eight science and engineering practices for K-12 classrooms. These practices, along with core ideas and crosscutting concepts, define the nation's learning goals for science. An important advance from earlier standards (AAAS 1993, NRC 1996), these practices are clearly identified "not" as…

Many times students are given the task of keeping a science notebook, but do not fully understand the process or purpose of this endeavour. Science notebooks contain not only data but also questions, predictions, observations, and reflections from their experiences in science. To maximize the effectiveness of the science notebook, teachers must…

In the globalized and technological world in which we now live, school leaders must be prepared to engage in complex and interdependent systems. Hierarchical power and authority will not provide the leader with the capacity to challenge people and systems to adapt and change to the emerging needs of students from differing social, political, and…

This study focuses on the mentor relationships between science teachers and their scientist mentors in a summer Research Experience for Teachers program at a United States national laboratory facility. Using mixed methods, the authors surveyed and interviewed (semi-structured) the eleven participating teachers before and after the program. The…

This article focuses primarily on our research group's year of preparation before the opening of a new K-7 publicly funded ecological "school" for students aged 5-12. The article begins with a discussion of the reasons for seeking ways to change the values of a culture which fails to confront the consequences of its destructive…

Narratives are being increasingly used in nursing and action research. In this participatory action research study, nurse leaders of an acute care of the older person unit collectively, critically and creatively reflected on lived experiences in order to explore the concept of person-centred leadership within their own practice. This paper…