We would like to share with you our ongoing experiences with "hands-on statistics" lessons we have recently carried out. We have developed a new experimental path for teaching young students using fundamental concepts of "statistics": uncertainty of the measurement, the uncertainty of the mean, the mean itself, etc. The methods…

The typical experiment to measure the oxygen content in the atmosphere uses the rusting of steel wool inside a closed volume of air. Two key aspects of this experiment that make possible a successful measurement of the content of oxygen in the air are the use of a closed atmosphere and the use of a chemical reaction that involves the oxidation of…

Background: Cluster randomized experiments that assign intact groups such as schools or school districts to treatment conditions are increasingly common in educational research. Such experiments are inherently multilevel designs whose sensitivity (statistical power and precision of estimates) depends on the variance decomposition across levels.…

This article describes an interrupted case study that intersperses information about diffusion and osmosis with content review and knowledge application questions, as well as a simple experiment that can be conducted without the use of a laboratory. The case study was developed for use in an introductory undergraduate biology course. The case…

Concerns regarding students' learning and reasoning in chemistry classrooms are well documented. Students' reasoning in chemistry should be characterized by conscious consideration of chemical phenomenon from laboratory work at macroscopic, molecular/sub-micro and symbolic levels. Further, students should develop metacognition in relation to such…

Experiments are essential for both doing science and learning science. The aim of the German youth science fair, "Jugend forscht," is to encourage scientific thinking and inquiry methods such as experimentation. Based on 57 interviews with participants of the competition, this study summarises students' conceptions and steps of learning…

Many studies have stressed students' lack of understanding of experiments in laboratories. Some researchers suggest that if students design all or parts of entire experiment, as part of an inquiry-based approach, it would overcome certain difficulties. It requires that a procedure be written for experimental design. The aim of this paper is to…

Science teachers can find lesson ideas almost anywhere. For example, during a recent visit to a local dollar store, the author stumbled upon a flower vase filled with water pearls, also known as water beads and jelly beans. She bought several of the bags (search the web to find numerous online sources), and soon began experimenting. Water pearls…

When students encounter a set of concepts (or terms or principles) that are similar in some way, they often confuse one with another. For instance, they might mistake one word for another word with a similar spelling (e.g., allusion instead of illusion) or choose the wrong strategy for a mathematics problem because it resembles a different kind of…

The Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) is an international, non-profit educational organization. The Association's purpose is to advance the knowledge, theory, and quality of teaching and learning at all levels with information technology. "EdMedia + Innovate Learning" took place in Amsterdam, The…

When illuminating four "mystery" vials of nanoparticle solution with a 405-nm light emitting diode (LED), four distinct colors related to the peak wavelength of fluorescent emission can be observed. This phenomenon perplexes high school physics students and leads to the subsequent exploratory question, "Why are the four vials emitting a different…

What students and teachers often ask is, how are nano-sized materials made when they are so small? One answer is through the process of self-assembly in which molecules, polymers, and nanoparticles connect to form larger objects of a defined structure and shape. Two hands-on experiments are presented in which students prepare capsules in real time…

In this follow-up to "Effective Teacher Induction and Mentoring" (ED522923) Michael Strong tackles the major issues surrounding teacher quality and effectiveness. "The Highly Qualified Teacher" provides an accessible overview of the research related to teacher quality, and introduces a new method for evaluating teachers based on extensive…

We report on a school-university collaboration to involve students in the deployment, testing, and operation of a very low frequency (VLF) radio receiver as part of an international network of such experiments. A background to the collaboration is presented, along with a summary of planning and development, and the ultimate deployment of the…

Dry erase whiteboards come with toxic dry erase markers and toxic cleaning products. Dry erase markers labeled "nontoxic" are not free of toxic chemicals and can cause health problems. Children are especially vulnerable to environmental health hazards; moreover, schools commonly have problems with indoor air pollution, as they are more densely…