Research on teacher educators' professional learning has gained increasing interest within science education. Curriculum materials have been suggested as a means of supporting "teacher" learning for several decades but have not yet been examined as a potential tool for supporting the learning of "teacher educators." In this…

One of the challenges of context-based science education is to construct high quality teaching materials. This paper presents results from a study investigating the heuristic value of an activity-based instructional framework for transformation of authentic scientific practices for use in the science classroom, in line with cultural historic…

Focusing on the science knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge that teachers need to realize the vision of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in their classrooms, this article presents findings from efforts to (a) adapt existing criteria and design heuristics for educative features of curriculum materials and apply them in the…

The graphic organizer called here heuristic diagram as an improvement of Gowin's Vee heuristic is proposed as a tool to teach history of science. Heuristic diagrams have the purpose of helping students (or teachers, or researchers) to understand their own research considering that asks and problem-solving are central to scientific activity. The…

Common examples of graphic organizers include flow diagrams, concept maps, and decision trees. The author has created a novel type of graphic organizer called a decision map. A decision map is a directional heuristic that helps learners solve problems within a generic framework. It incorporates questions that the user must answer and contains…

This collection brings together the best minds in education to explore the literacy-science connection and to reduce the lack of understanding between the science and humanities communities. The articles cover a range of topics and perspectives, from quasitheoretical pieces and literature reviews to case studies and evaluations of particular…

Describes a simulation exercise that integrates current events with the basics of decision making under crisis. Reports positive results in terms of student participation, interaction and reflection while creating minimal demands on class time. Provides details for using the simulation. (KO)