This edited book explores different international practices in reforming science teacher education programs for STEM education. Incorporating case studies in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America and South America, the contributors emphasise the large variety in STEM teacher preparation. Including science-centric versions of STEM…

The present study which is descriptive and cross-sectional in nature, pursues the objective of developing a structural equation model which integrates basic psychological needs, emotional regulation and academic stress in a sample composed of 2736 university students [[male gender symbol] = 33.8% (n = 924); [female gender symbol] = 66.2% (n =…

We present a practical activity focusing on two main goals: to give learners the opportunity to experience how the scientific method works and to increase their knowledge about enzymes in everyday situations. The exercise consists of determining the amylase activity of commercial detergents. The methodology is based on a qualitative assay using a…

Bourgeois-based approaches to 'critical thinking' are failing to help students develop self-reflexivity and the capacity to think critically about the world. This circumstance has led some Marxist authors to claim that dialectics is the real form of critical thinking, so it should be introduced into teaching/learning activities. This advocacy for…

Several international reports promote the use of the inquiry teaching methodology for improvements in science education at elementary school. Nevertheless, research indicates that pre-service elementary teachers have insufficient experience with this methodology and when they try to implement it, the theory they learnt in their university…

We present a case study to illustrate the design and implementation of a teaching sequence about oral and dental health and hygiene. This teaching sequence was aimed at year 10 students (age 15-16) and sought to develop their scientific competences. In line with the PISA assessment framework for science and the tenets of a context-based approach…

In this paper we explore the views and opinions of four secondary education science teachers regarding the teaching of scientific competences. Their views were gathered in the context of a training programme in which they had to design, implement, and assess their own teaching unit for developing students' scientific competences by means of…

Modelling-based teaching activities have been designed and analysed from distinct theoretical perspectives. In this paper, we use one of them--the model of modelling diagram (MMD)--as an analytical tool in a regular classroom context. This paper examines the challenges that arise when the MMD is used as an analytical tool to characterise the…

The main objective of this work was to show the application of the study of ancient technology and science on teaching (and learning) chemistry in Chemical Engineering Undergraduate studies. Degradation patterns of pigments used in Ancient Egypt were incorporated in the syllabus of the course entitled "Technological and Scientific…

Explanatory typologies have recently experienced a renaissance as a research strategy for constructing and assessing causal explanations. However, both the new methodological works on explanatory typologies and the way such typologies have been used in practice have been affected by two shortcomings. First, no elaborate procedures for assessing…

The Bachelor's Degree Final Project (BDFP) of our school aims to develop a real constructive project, enhance cooperative teamwork and increase productivity of students. We present a real case study, related with engineering and scientific innovation results obtained by BDFP, which has led to an innovative scientific study presented at the 7th…

Although the core element in CLIL and immersion programmes is the integration of content and language, it is challenging to achieve a balance between the two to meet the dual-objective of CLIL. Research on the beliefs teachers have about CLIL and the way they understand the role of content and language in their classes is crucial to achieve that…

This study analyses the use of audio description in teaching physics concepts, aiming to determine the variables that influence the understanding of the concept. One education resource was audio described. For make the audio description the screen was freezing. The video with and without audio description should be presented to students, so that…

Pedagogic Conversational Agents are computer applications that can interact with students in natural language. They have been used with satisfactory results on the instruction of several domains. The authors believe that they could also be useful for the instruction of Secondary Physics and Chemistry Education. Therefore, in this paper, the…

Massive Open Online Courses and e-learning represent the future of the teaching-learning processes through the development of Information and Communication Technologies. They are the response to the new education needs of society. However, this future also presents many challenges such as the processing of online forums when a huge number of…