"Situational interest" is a short-term form of motivation which occurs when a specific situation stimulates the focused attention of students (e.g., a spectacular science demonstration could arouse transient interest amongst nearly all the students in a class, even those who are not normally interested in science). However, there have…

Using mini-aquaria experiments, a learning unit on the effects of light period on aquatic ecosystems was developed for 7th grade students. This guided inquiry unit was aimed at helping students understand basic ecological principles involved in relationships among physical, chemical, and biological components in aquatic ecosystems. It involved…

This document presents the proceedings of the 20th Annual Research Forum held June 25, 2015, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included are the following 21 action research papers: (1) History Lives! The Use of Simulations in a High School Social Studies Classroom (Lydia Adkins); (2) Using Francophone Music in the High…

Universities worldwide are facing a number of contradictory and competing pressures that range from under-funding to the very nature of universities and their roles in society. Pressures of the information explosion, the democratization of information through access to the Internet, and the advent of the knowledge-based economies have changed the…

This paper situates sexual minority issues within organizations by examining what it means to engage diversity through the perspectives of hostility, compliance, inquiry, inclusion, and advocacy. These perspectives are discussed in terms of human resource development missions of individual development, career development, and organization…

Students can imitate scientists at work by conducting inquiry investigations in the classroom, thereby exhibiting a multitude of skills and competencies. As stated by Bransford and Donovan (2005), learning science as a process of inquiry involves students in observation, imagination, and reasoning about the phenomena under investigation. Rather…

In today's climate of standardized testing, the author shares his concern that colleagues who are currently implementing researched, inquiry-based science that awaken students' curiosity may soon be thwarted by mandated, time-consuming packaged programs. He encourages science educators to "fight" for inquiry-based science and includes some…

This study attempts to analyze and synthesize the knowledge collected in the area of conceptual models used in teaching and learning during inquiry-based projects, and to propose a new frame for organizing the classroom interactions within a constructivist approach. The IMSTRA model consists in three general phases: Immersion, Structuring,…

Have you ever heard of a Maglev train? Who would be crazy enough to think that exploring how a high-tech train little known in the United States works with a group of fourth-grade students would yield understandings about the properties of magnetism, force and motion, and inquiry science? Fortunately, the authors--a college methods professor and…

In this study, the researchers investigated public school teacher attrition in the State of Texas. The study examined the problem by focusing on the predominant reasons teachers give for leaving the profession after working only one year as a teacher. Eight persons who had left the teaching profession after one year teaching were contacted and…

As part of the Learning to Learn Phase 3 Evaluation [for full detail see Higgins, S., Wall, K., Baumfield, V., Hall, E., Leat, D., Moseley, D., et al. (2007). "Learning to Learn in Schools Phase 3 Evaluation: Final Report." London: Campaign for Learning. Available at: www.campaignforlearning.org.uk; Higgins, S., Wall, K., Falzon, C.,…

Two labs incorporating the Science Writing Heuristic are described that introduce scientific inquiry in a course for preservice students majoring in elementary education. One lab adapts a previously described discovery learning opportunity involving the change in composition and mass of pennies in 1982. The other involves the use of flotation…

Educational discourse has often struggled to genuinely move beyond deficit-based language. Even action research, a predominant model for teacher development, starts with the identification of a problem (Cardno 2003). It would appear that the vocabulary for a hope-filled discourse which captures the imagination and influences our future educational…

An experiment in chemical kinetics as part of our Discovery Chemistry curriculum is described. Discovery Chemistry is a pedagogical philosophy that makes the laboratory the key center of learning for students in their first two years of undergraduate instruction. Questions are posed in the pre-laboratory discussion and assessed using pooled…

This report describes a biochemistry laboratory that is completely project-oriented. Upper-level biology and chemistry majors work in teams to purify a protein of their choice. After the student groups have completed literature searches, ordered reagents, and made buffers they continue to learn basic protein purification and biochemical techniques…