The method for producing monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) was first published in 1975. MAbs have revolutionised research, diagnosis, and disease treatment approaches. While students need a good understanding of MAb production, teaching the key steps via traditional methods can be challenging. Numerous resources exist, but these focus on hybridoma…

Amidst endorsement of inquiry based learning (IBL) in primary and lower secondary settings in Australia, research indicates that IBL is underrepresented and/or under utilised in senior science education. To investigate this apparent pedagogical misalignment, a phenomenological study was undertaken to explore senior biology teachers' perspectives…

The visibility of female role models in science is vital for engaging and retaining women in scientific fields. In this study, we analyse four senior secondary science courses delivered across the states and territories in Australia: Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, and Physics. We compared male and female representation within the…

Declining enrolments in senior secondary science have heightened concerns for meeting the demands for more STEM-qualified workers and a scientifically literate society. Students' attitudes to science are formed during schooling, particularly in adolescence when they are exposed to a variety of science topics. Students' perceptions of their ability…

The topic of living things is ideal for exploring the ideas of children in the early years of school. Preschool and primary school teachers are reasonably confident with the subject matter and all children will have had some life experiences that contribute to their prior knowledge. For this reason, the question 'Is it alive?' is one that…

Learning objectives outline the knowledge and skills to be taught in a subject, thus signaling what is worth learning and what type of thinking is valued. The aim of this syllabus analysis is to determine the cognitive demand of learning objectives in the recently reformed Queensland physics, chemistry and biology syllabus and to analyse whether…

Biology as an integral part of science learning continues to be maximized by integrating technology into its learning design. The definite manifestation of this integration process is to achieve meaningfulness, activeness, and effectiveness of the learning carried out. The flipped classroom (FC) is gaining popularity as a pedagogical model that…

STEM is about the integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. To teach STEM effectively, students need practical examples of subject integration. A good example is the use of an electron microscope in teaching physics and biology. An electron microscope is an instrument in which the operation depends on electromagnetism and…

Adding to concerns about falling participation rates in science education, the profile of certain student groups who go on to study decreases, particularly as the year level increases. The aim of this paper is to examine if, and in what ways, demographic factors predict students' post-16 participation in biology, physics, chemistry and earth/space…

The significance of the role of students' interpretation and creation of multiple forms of representation in science learning has long been established and advocated, but there is a paucity of research into the extent to which this emphasis in science education is reflected in high stakes final year high school science examinations. This study…

Research from the fields of science representation, genre pedagogy and disciplinary literacy for adolescents indicates that achievement for students, including those from linguistically diverse backgrounds, will improve if they engage with the meaning-making conventions of disciplinary texts, but there is no current agreement on the nature of…

Objective: To understand how competence, self-efficacy, enjoyment and motivation relates to physical activity behavior during transition from school to university. Participants: Health science students (n = 558) studying first year biology at an Australian university. Methods: Cross-sectional correlational survey design using five self-report…

Recently, students' interest in science has been conceptualized as a network model: the science interest network model (SINM) in which affective, behavioural and cognitive components interact together; building on science interest being a dynamic relational construct. In the current study, we combine the Australian Programme for International…

Science and science education are recognised internationally as essential for ensuring a sustainable and prosperous future. At the same time, significant equity issues are apparent in science education. This study used enrolment and academic result data, routinely collected from government schools in Victoria, Australia, to examine the impact of…

The need to make higher education curricula gender-inclusive is increasingly pressing as student cohorts diversify. We adopted a student-staff partnership approach to design, integrate, and evaluate a module that taught first-year science students the difference between biological sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation in…