This paper reports the process of designing and partially implementing and evaluating a content-based and genre-oriented syllabus with a group of ninth graders at a public school in Barranquilla, Colombia. The syllabus sought to promote reading strategies in order to improve learners' comprehension of natural science texts. The results of this…

This performance assessment pilot study was a major research component of the overall National Science Foundation funded Redesigned High Schools for Transformed STEM Learning Project. Secondary Earth/Environmental Science students' abilities to translate cognitive knowledge into demonstrable performance-based proficiencies were specifically…

As part of an effort to improve students' knowledge of constellations and bright stars in an introductory level descriptive astronomy survey course, we measured the baseline knowledge that students bring to the class and how their score evolve over the course of the semester. This baseline is needed by the broader astronomy education research…

Background: Studies have shown that students' knowledge of osmosis and diffusion and the concepts associated with these processes is often inaccurate. This is important to address, as these concepts not only provide the foundation for more advanced topics in biology and chemistry, but are also threaded throughout both state and national science…

Students' self-efficacy expectations (SEE) in mathematics are associated with their engagement and learning experiences. Going beyond previous operationalisations of SEE we propose a new instrument that takes into account not only "facet-specificity" (expectations related to particular competences or skills) and "strength"…

The increasing use of information and communication technology (ICT) in schools has been largely explored in relation to how students' use ICT at school. In addition students' lives and experiences with technology beyond school have also begun to be explored. However, the nexus between the two is still an underdeveloped research area. Anecdotally…

The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) Student Survey is administered each year to measure students' perceptions about their learning experiences. In 2014-15, the content of the survey, as well as the grades to which it was administered, were changed to better capture measures of engagement and grit during students' transition years. Over…

This article reports an exploratory multi-case study on how science teachers understand and envisage addressing learners' misconceptions about electric circuits. Four teachers from schools in and around a large South African city participated in the study. An open-ended questionnaire was designed in a novel way, questioning teachers about wrong…

This article considers the roles of school leaders, a departmental-level leader and a teacher in implementing a reform within a school, and the nature of the relations between the groups and individuals that attended this process. Drawing upon Bourdieu's "thinking tools", the article analyses the nature of the leadership practices…

The purpose of this study was to investigate not only the applicability of the method of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) to the lesson subject of "Gasses" within the scope of the 9th grade course of Chemistry in Hakkari Gazi High School but also the influence of this method on the students' achievement levels in chemistry and on their…

It is imperative that schools and communities give students opportunities to participate in active citizenship and prepare them with the important skills and dispositions needed to become informed citizens. Action civics is a promising practice that puts students at the heart of civics learning by providing them with the opportunity to learn about…

Students often find geometrical concepts abstract and difficult to understand. This results in poor performance, which contributes in the declining interest in geometry. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of using the free educational software program, "GeoGebra" on 9th grade student's mathematics achievement in learning…

The purpose of this study was to use the US naturalization test as a springboard to gauge the citizenship knowledge and notions of young adolescent students in Ohio and Georgia. The participants' citizenship knowledge was partially measured by administering questions from the US naturalization test in two case studies. Students from a range of…

Many Canadian provinces provide guidelines for teachers to determine students' final grades by combining a percentage of students' scores from provincial large-scale assessments with their term scores. This practice is thought to hold students accountable by motivating them to put effort into completing the large-scale assessment, thereby…

Critical thinking is the focal point missed in many students' educations. Students are taught memorization with little time left for the development of critical thinking skills which allows for a deeper understanding and a richer experience. Learning to ask appropriate questions and deduce information in order to build a deeper connection to the…