Student-active science teaching that includes interactions among students is suggested to support students' reasoning skills. However, little is known about what are the beneficial modes of interaction to support learning. In the present study, we investigated how different types of classroom discussion on socioscientific issues can encourage…

This article outlines the 'Big Ideas' approach to curriculum reform, as applied in the 'Principles and Big Ideas of Science Education' project. A critical analysis follows of the outcomes of the University of Exeter's 'Identifying Principles and Big Ideas for Religious Education' project, which sought to apply the same approach to Religious…

Graduates' retrospective program evaluations can provide relevant and reliable feedback on an institutions' performance in delivering quality instruction and services to its students. This descriptive survey research ascertains graduates' evaluations of science education program areas, including curriculum adequacy and relevance. Study…

Biological evolution stands out as critically important content for K-12 education as it is considered a cornerstone of the biological sciences. Yet, it remains one of the most socially controversial topics related to science education. In this exploratory study, we are seeking to understand the ways elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) use their…

The impact of polymeric materials on the well-being of citizens of the modern world is enormous. These materials enhance virtually every facet of life--from clothing and personal care items to housing and transportation. Yet despite this, and the fact that most chemists work in a polymer or polymer-related area, polymeric materials have…

This non-experimental exploratory survey examined pre-service science teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and professional identity as influenced by their secondary school years learning experiences. A convenience sample of 60 undergraduate science student teachers participated in this study. An open-ended questionnaire on secondary school science…

This paper provides a detailed analysis of the inclusion of aspects of nature of science (NOS) in the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS). In this new standards document, NOS elements in eight categories are discussed in Appendix H along with illustrative statements (called exemplars). Many, but not all, of these exemplars are…

A goal of undergraduate geoscience programs is to prepare students for the geoscience workforce. In order to understand the extent to which programs succeed at this goal, we identified desired workforce skills, compiled undergraduate geoscience program requirements, and mapped workforce skills onto faculty responses to the 2016 National Geoscience…

In this article, the argument is put forth that controversies about the scope and limits of science should be considered in Nature of Science (NOS) teaching. Reference disciplines for teaching NOS are disciplines, which reflect upon science, like philosophy of science, history of science, and sociology of science. The culture of these disciplines…

This article explores the ways in which the quantitative and qualitative tools used by risk managers can help students think critically about issues. In particular, it identifies some of the quantitative skills used for risk assessment that can be taught and used in mathematics and science classes. It also examines the qualitative knowledge of…

Science education is an important dimension of the European Commission's Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) objectives; however, RRI is not an explicit focus of biology teaching and few biology teachers have experience in integrating RRI in classroom practice. This study examines the impact of a three 80-minute RRI and active citizenship…

Laboratory evidence of a positive effect of sleep on declarative memory consolidation suggests that naps can be used to boost school learning in a scalable, low-cost manner. The few direct investigations of this hypothesis have so far upheld it, but departed from the naturalistic setting by testing non-curricular contents presented by…

The current study aims to explore how Thai preservice biology teachers make decisions upon and informally reason about two culture-based socioscientific issues, which are different yet contextually related. Participants included 46 fourth-year preservice biology teachers (12 males and 34 females) who completed a written questionnaire asking about…

Objective: Socially-relevant and controversial topics, such as the climate crisis, are subject to differences in the explanations that scientists and the public find plausible. Scaffolds can help students be evaluative of the validity of explanations based on evidence when addressing such topics and support knowledge gains. Method: This study…

This article reports on a small-scale qualitative study designed to explore lecturers' and students' experiences of teaching and learning on a recently-implemented MSc programme in Biomedical Sciences taught in the medium of English at an Italian university. A focus group format was employed to interview twelve students on the programme, and…