Engineering education has slowly been making its way into schools with the aim of promoting engineering literacy, which is central to learning and working in a technology-oriented society. Educators and policy makers advocate the need for developing students' understanding of the nature of engineering (NOE); yet, there is an ongoing debate on the…

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…

In this manuscript we bring to focus student perceptions of salience (or lack of thereof) of emotions in the undergraduate conceptual physics course (in the teacher education program) and their relevance to teaching and learning. Our analysis of student responses to the Mindfulness in Education Heuristic constitutes a feedback loop affording the…

Existing studies report on the importance of instilling environmental literacy among students from an early stage of schooling to enable them to adopt more pro-environmental behaviors in the near future. This quasi-experimental study was designed to compare the level of environmental literacy among two groups of students: the experimental group (N…

We address the nature of mindfulness and its salience to education generally and to science education specifically. In a context of the historical embeddedness of mindfulness in Buddhism we discuss research in social neuroscience, presenting evidence for neuronal plasticity of the brain and six emotional styles, which are not biologically…

Teaching science with computer simulations is a complex undertaking. This case study examines how an experienced science teacher taught chemistry using computer simulations and the impact of his teaching on his students. Classroom observations over 3 semesters, teacher interviews, and student surveys were collected. The data was analyzed for (1)…

The aim of this paper is to consider some issues in the historical international development of science education making comparisons between the educational systems of Britain and the United States of America. The author's particular interest relates to the role of the textbook in science education, so this is area on which this study will…

Educational efforts to incorporate ethical decision-making in science classrooms about current science and technology issues have met with great challenges. Some research suggests that the inherent complexity in both the subject matter content and the structure and dynamics of classrooms contribute to this challenge. This study seeks to…

This study investigates the relationship between the students' understanding of the aims of an investigative activity and their performance when conducting it. One hundred and eighty-one year nine students from a public middle school in Brazil took part in the study. Students working in pairs were asked to investigate two problems using a…

Problem solving has been a concern of science education for at least three quarters of a century. This book presents a comprehensive review of the research that has occurred in problem solving. The studies included in this summary range across the continuum. Some are concerned with gaps between conditions and resolutions; some involve science…