Although studies repeatedly show both the importance of teachers' science subject matter knowledge (SMK) and the fact that teachers have limited SMK, there are few opportunities for teachers to formally enhance their understanding of science after entering the classroom. Therefore, there is significant need for teachers to develop their SMK…

In order to use concept maps in physics classes effectively, teachers' knowledge and ideas about concept mapping are as important as the physics knowledge used in mapping. For this reason, we aimed to examine pre-service physics teachers' knowledge on concept mapping, their ideas about the implementation of concept mapping in physics…

In this study, I sought to identify differences in the views and understandings of engineering design among individuals along the learning-to-teach continuum. To do so, I conducted a comprehensive review of literature to determine the various aspects of engineering design described in the fields of professional engineering and engineering…

Effective use of educational technologies by teachers in classrooms has come into prominence as the integration of technology into educational settings in todays world is considered as an inseparable part of an effective teaching. Besides, recent teacher training curriculums too emphasize the use of teaching strategies including technology to…

Students bring with them their own misconceptions to the science classes and it becomes a barrier in developing new concepts. Therefore, identifying misconceptions is an essential component in teaching science. The objective of this study was to identify 10th grade students' misconceptions on plant transport with the use of two-tier diagnostic…

The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of teacher read-aloud on adolescent learning in science and variation according to individual reading ability. The study gathered both quantitative and qualitative data for analysis from 2 treatment procedures. All seventh and eighth grade students participated in 2 consecutive units of study:…

The Earth sciences are newly marginalized in K-12 classrooms. With few high schools offering Earth science courses, students' exposure to the Earth sciences relies on the teacher's ability to incorporate Earth science material into a biology, chemistry, or physics course. ''G.E.T. (Geoscience Experiences for Teachers) in the Field'' is an…

Previous studies have shown that adequate content knowledge is a necessary, but not sufficient, requirement for affective teaching. While legislation requests teachers to be "highly qualified" in a subject area, such as physics, many teachers are frequently asked to teach in an area when they are not certified through a teaching license…

The purpose of this study is to explain prospective science and technology teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) about the cell. Lesson preparation, laboratory plan, interview with teacher candidates, and concept mapping were used to collect the data for prospective teacher's PCK. The study was conducted with six prospective science and…

This case study draws attention to Pedro's story, a Grade 6 Latino teacher who, along with other grade 4-6 teachers, participated in a three-year professional development research project. By using data analyzed from multiple ethnographic interviews with teachers and students, and by drawing from the quantitative analyzes of concept map unit…

The purpose of this research was to evaluate a collaborative concept-mapping technique that was integrated into coteaching in fourth-grade science classes in order to examine students' performance and attitudes toward the experimental teaching method. There are two fourth-grade science teachers and four classes with a total of 114 students…

Various methods have been performed to identify teachers' attitudes towards assessment. Recognizing the idea that mapping is one of the most efficient tools, this study was aimed to investigate the effectiveness of attitude maps in the evaluation of teachers' attitudes towards assessment. The instrument, composed of open-ended questions, was…

This article is about an investigation of six middle school science teachers' beliefs and instructional practice about the coherence of the science they teach as articulated by National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996). Many well intentioned reform efforts focus on improving content knowledge of teachers, but many classroom teachers…

Although researchers in higher education propose alternatives to traditional approaches to assessment, traditional methods are commonly used in college or university science courses. The purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility and validity of Prospective Science Teachers' (PSTs) concept maps as authentic assessment tools in a…

The education of science teachers necessarily involves instruction around the use of computer technologies. Acadia University, a laptop institution, offers a unique setting where students are immersed in the critique of pedagogical applications of computers. The current trend to employ constructivist approaches in teaching provides a backdrop for…