Regular science practices in preschool are crucial for children's learning in science. Yet, preschool teachers may only offer science learning opportunities if they "are" and "feel" sufficiently qualified to teach early science. The present study investigates the relation between teachers' qualifications, their self-efficacy…

There has been a growing awareness that graphing is an essential part of the science curriculum. While much research has focused on student conceptions and abilities regarding graphical representations, only few studies have investigated what teachers think about them and how they use graphs in science class. The purpose of this study is to…

Previous studies show that girls have a lower scientific self-concept than boys. Since interest starts declining over the course of lower secondary school, this exacerbates the issue that fewer girls aspire to choose a scientific profession. In this article, we present the concept of scientific profile classes. Profile classes pursue the goal of…

This study examined the influence of higher education teacher training on student physics teachers' progression in content knowledge (CK). To become experts, student teachers must acquire both declarative and procedural -- conditional CK. This progression is generally characterized by the prerequisite role of declarative knowledge, meaning that…

In today's rapidly evolving global economy, it is essential to equip young learners with the necessary skills and knowledge to thrive in the workforce and contribute to economic development. Education is a vital driver of human capital and development in countries, and the effectiveness of any educational system depends heavily on its curriculum.…

Inclusive education requires that teachers not only teach academic knowledge and skills, but also consider the individual needs of all pupils, especially with respect to their social-emotional status. All teachers (including science and biology teachers) have to promote the wellbeing of their pupils by helping them develop social-emotional skills.…

Phosphates are essential components of any efficient fertilizer. Natural phosphate rock is, however, not available in every part of the world. According to the European Commission, phosphate rock has high economic importance as well as a certain supply risk--at least for Europe. For these reasons, environmental technology research has received a…

The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD) is a fundamental representation in stellar physics. It contains information about key properties of stars and allows inferences about stellar evolution. The use of the HRD is an important disciplinary activity in astrophysics. For example, it is particularly important to have a graphical understanding of the…

Evolutionary anthropologists commonly describe humans as a highly cooperative species, based on our evolved socio-cognitive capacities. However, students and the general public may not necessarily share this view about our species. At the same time, fostering our ability to cooperate is considered a key foundation for achieving sustainable…

Although well researched in educational studies, inquiry-based learning, a student-centred way of teaching, is far away from being implemented in day-to-day science and mathematics teaching on a large scale. It is a challenge for teachers to adopt this new way of teaching in an often not supportive school context. Therefore it is important to…

Developing students' systems thinking is an often-posed demand in education for sustainable development (ESD) and science literacy. Several studies have shown that systems thinking can be fostered in students of different education levels. Therefore, science teachers who are required to teach ESD-relevant topics should be proficient in systems…

In recent decades, several countries have made an effort to increase the enrollment rates and performance of students in science and mathematics by means of mandatory, rigorous course work, which is often referred to as curricular intensification (CI). However, there is a lack of research on intended and unintended effects of CI reforms on…

Internet forums are interactive, question-answer-based information resources in the Internet. Users can post questions and others can answer from any place in the world and at any time. Teachers can use Internet forums to find answers on how and what to teach, e.g. science; students find or ask for information for school topics or homework…

With regard to the moderate performance of German students in international large-scale assessments, one branch of German science education research is concerned with the construction and evaluation of competence models. Based on the theory-driven definition of competence levels, these models imply a correlation between the complexity of a…

Teachers' content-related knowledge is a key factor influencing the learning progress of students. Different models of content-related knowledge have been proposed by educational researchers; most of them take into account three categories: content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and curricular knowledge. As there is no consensus about…