The purpose of this study was to investigate the current science and technology curriculum for the balance of scientific literacy (SL) aspects and its potential to educate scientifically literate citizens. Human body system unit of current science curriculum was investigated to see whether scientific literacy aspects were reflected sufficiently to…

Managing classroom discussions that maximise learning through the phases of inquiry in primary science requires a rich repertoire of teacher knowledge and skills. Twelve teachers participated in a professional learning program focussed on building teachers' knowledge, confidence and self-efficacy for managing classroom discourse and using puppets…

Can art make a difference? This is a call for a new sense of interconnectivity among visual art programs in and out of schools. This common ground will be found in the embodiment of performance, critical reflection, and social change within art learning. One goal of this article is to encourage educators to use the "verbs of art" for…

Research suggests that mental health professionals have more problematic family backgrounds than those in other professions, but little is known about the role that early experience has on career choice. This is of particular importance for the education of psychologists, given the current emphasis on skills and research training and the call for…

The author believes the two most valuable employees in an organization are the valued person(s) that has been there forever and helped build the infrastructure and processes and a "new guy" who questions why they exist. The seasoned professionals not only understand the processes, infrastructure, culture, educational programs, and vision, but were…

As teachers are held more and more accountable for the achievement of their students, agriscience teachers must focus on effectively integrating scientific core concepts into agriculture classes. Inquiry-based instruction is currently considered a best practice in increasing students' science content understanding, but is often avoided by teachers…

To be efficient and effective learners in the information age, individuals must be able to engage successfully with a wide variety of information types and formats. Becoming lifelong learners in a world in which information flows freely and defies the boundaries of traditional disciplines and subject areas, children and youth in particular must…

This article suggests placemaking as a framework to more deeply understand how teaching and learning can take into account young children's cultural histories. Placemaking, a form of analysis commonly found in land development literature, critically interprets the relationship between power, politics and the production of place. In this article,…

Introducing science inquiry early in young children's education is imperative, and providing opportunities for conducting investigations that develop process skills can lay a foundation for later learning. Combining inquiry-based instruction with appropriate technology allows the students to explore, reason, test, and revise their ideas about…

Despite inquiry-based teaching was introduced and encouraged as significant tool to develop students' scientific knowledge and habits of mind, its implementation has not been well established in science classrooms in Korea. To understand the challenges and difficulties of the practice of inquiry practical work, this study particularly aims to…

Research suggests that providing others with elaborated explanations is more beneficial for learning than receiving explanations (e.g., Webb, 1989). Applied to chat communication in a collaborative inquiry learning environment, we would expect that in a dyad learners with more domain-related contributions than their partners would learn more. In…

Elementary and middle school teachers often provide students with hands-on activities or even inquiry-based investigations that emphasize science process skills such as observing, classifying, identifying and controlling variables, hypothesizing, experimenting, and collecting and analyzing data. These activities and investigations are frequently…

"Feeding up" establishes a substantive line of inquiry that compels learners to engage in investigation and inquire. It also forms the basis for the assessments that follow. Once students understand the purpose and begin to work, they receive "feedback" that is timely and scaffolds their understanding. Based on their responses, the teacher gains a…

The authors combined content-driven and inquiry-based lessons into the framework of problem-based learning (PBL). They did this in eight third- through sixth-grade classrooms--two each from grades 3-5, one from sixth grade, and one mixed-grade special education. These older elementary students explored a local problem of lobsters infected by…

Robin Conway's interest in student-led enquiry derived from a concern to encourage his students to take much more responsibility for their own learning. Here he explains how his department gradually learned to entrust students with defining the enquiry questions and planning the kinds of teaching and learning activities to be used over the course…