Researchers have provided many arguments for why drawing may contribute to science learning. However, little is known about how teachers in early childhood education (ECE) make use of drawing for science learning purposes. This article examines how teachers' views and framing of drawing activities influence the science learning opportunities…

This article aims to explore and clarify how students' use of first and second languages in a translanguaging science classroom (TSC) may affect the continuity of learning in science. In a TSC, participants can use all available language resources, in all meaning-making situations. An ethnographic data collection and research design is used to…

In the twenty years since the first theory of 'plant blindness' was published much discussion has ensued concerning this phenomenon. More recent research, not only demonstrates that humans appear to favour animals over plants but also indicates a preference for mammals with forward-facing eyes. For this paper, we analysed answers to an online…

This paper describes analysis of teaching instances that are part of an in-service preschool teachers programme about chemistry and physics in preschool. The aim is to develop knowledge about the communication established between teacher and children in relation to an object of learning, specifically the role of intersubjective communication in…

This article examines what key aspects primary teachers highlight when they describe their use of out of school learning in the science subjects. The empirical study is made in the form of a semi-structured interview with primary teachers (N=15). Compared to earlier research in the area the results highlight the importance of clear learning aims…

In order to achieve the goal of scientific literacy for responsible citizenship, the importance of developing students' socioscientific inquiry-based learning (SSIBL) has been recognised by an EU FP7 project, PARRISE, including the essential notions of responsible research and innovation (RRI), and citizenship education (CE). The study aims to…

There are only a few studies about how primary school students engage in socio-scientific discussions. This study aims to add to this field of research by focusing on how 9-10-year-olds in Sweden and England handle climate change as a complex environmental socio-scientific issue (SSI), within the context of their own lives and in relation to…

In this article we explore the places pre- and primary school (K-6) student teachers associate with their science learning experiences and how they view the relationship between these places and science. In doing so, we use "place" as an analytical entry point to deepen the understanding of pre- and primary school student teachers'…

The work reported in this article is part of a wider project that aims to develop and implement a web-based, pan-European, in-service professional development platform for teachers to enhance their role in promoting education through science. This article aims to evaluate the implementation of the e-module on Assessment of Children's Learning in…

This study illuminates teachers' conceptions of gender and science and possibilities to challenge these conceptions. Since 2005, a group of teachers (K-6) in Sweden have met approximately once a month in two-hour seminars to discuss and develop their instruction in science and technology based on a gender perspective. The present data consist…

Demonstrated an experiment on the properties of air to 2 groups of Swedish fourth graders (total n=45), using familiar materials in one case and unfamiliar, "scientific," materials in the other. Written explanations by students show that the unfamiliar materials were a barrier to understanding and may have actually obstructed students'…

This journal issue discusses the idea that 1988 was a year in which "green thinking" and environmental matters came to the top of the political and public agenda. At the same time, environmental education received new recognition as a vital dimension of education having relevance to all. In 1989, it seems likely that environmental…

An investigation of pupil and teacher preferences concerning different ways of presenting subject matter in science and social studies in Swedish public schools is discussed. The curriculum used for these subjects was studied and an analysis made of a number of books used. Responses of a questionnaire gauging pupil and teacher preferences for…

Because of changes in the Swedish educational system (including formation of a new upper secondary school), as well as changes in other countries, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) is undertaking a new science study to provide evidence for policymaking and for better understanding the…

The ENKA Project is concerned with two major problem areas: the conceptions of physical and chemical phenomena, central to an upper level course, held by compulsory school pupils (grades 7-9) and the implications from descriptions of pupils' conceptions and ways of reasoning for current teaching practice. To determine conceptions held, pupils were…