Science curriculum and pedagogy offer ideal avenues for teaching young people the critical thinking skills they need to live in a post-truth world. Drawing on the theory of epistemic cognition, we present a selection of research-based pedagogies that have been shown to be effective in developing school students' understanding of knowledge and how…

Against the background of many studies focusing either on scientific reasoning or views on the nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI), the aim of this article is to present and empirically analyse a framework that associates these central science education constructs. Based on the idea of inquiry methods, the "ScieNo"-framework includes…

Background: Efforts to promote reform-based instruction have overlooked the import of affect in teacher learning. Drawing on prior work, I argue that teachers' affective experiences in the discipline are integral to their learning how to teach the discipline. Moreover, I suggest that both affective and epistemological aspects of teachers'…

The purpose for this self-study was to explore the theoretical and practical understandings of scientific inquiry inherent in our elementary teacher preparation program, specifically those of new instructors. Although scientific inquiry and inquiry-based learning are emphasized in our program, several new instructors, doctoral students hired to…

Creativity and the way it could be supported in schools is understood differently by policy makers, practitioners and scientists. This article reviews, with a chronological lens, the development of policies that include teaching creativity and teaching for creativity. The epistemic tensions between the intentions of government and the nature of…

Mechanistic reasoning, or reasoning systematically through underlying factors and relationships that give rise to phenomena, is a powerful thinking strategy that allows one to explain and make predictions about phenomena. This article synthesizes and builds on existing frameworks to identify essential characteristics of students' mechanistic…

This manuscript focuses on the experiences of a science teacher educator's initial engagement in reconceptualization of the construct of equity in classrooms through the use of praxis. What might equity look like if conceptualized as a dynamic interaction between teacher and individual students? Utilizing a critically situated perspective, this…

Over the last decade, researchers have identified complex epistemic practices in online gaming communities. Such research invites the question: Can games engender these attitudes and behaviors, or do they merely provide an outlet for players already predisposed to these forms of knowledge production? This question poses both theoretical and design…

With school populations across the country becoming increasingly representative of students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, new considerations must be made to promote equitable and engaged science learning for all students (National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering, & Institute of Medicine [NAEEM], 2011).…

The present study is based on a large cross-cultural study, which showed that a systemizing cognition type has a high impact on motivation to learn science, while the impact of gender is only indirect thorough systemizing. The present study uses the same structural equation model as in the cross-cultural study and separately tests it for physics,…

Our concern is to offer support to the entire spectrum of staff wishing to nurture the development of early years science, from unqualified personnel through to early years professionals who may hold any one of the plethora of relevant qualifications. We reflect on what form that science might take, bearing in mind criticisms of science education…

The gender gap continues to exist in physics education. The author examines the gender-related differences in the relations and strengths among personal epistemologies, motivation, and achievement in physics among Turkish high school students. Established questionnaires were used to identify students' personal epistemologies, motivations and…

In pedagogical contexts and in everyday life, we often come to believe something because it would best explain the data. What is it about the explanatory endeavor that makes it essential to everyday learning and to scientific progress? There are at least two plausible answers. On one view, there is something special about having true…

In recent years, there has been a growing interest among researchers on students' epistemological beliefs and learning approaches which are considered as important predictors of academic achievement. The aim of present study was to ascertain the relationship between Sri lankan senior secondary students' scientific epistemological beliefs and…

The conceptualisation of knowledge as justified true belief has been shown to be, at the very least, an incomplete account. One challenge to the justified true belief model arises from the proposition of situations in which a person possesses a belief that is both justified and true which some philosophers intuit should not be classified as…