The most famous equation in physics, E = mc[superscript 2], is rarely introduced in middle school physics curricula. Recent research has shown that teaching Einsteinian concepts at the middle school level is feasible and beneficial. This paper analyses an Einsteinian energy teaching module for Year 8 students (13-14 years old), which encompasses…

Entropy is a concept with an extreme controversy which many scientists have been trying to explain. Some of the approaches employed in its definition contradict each other, which made it extremely difficult for high school and college students to understand. Boltzmann was the first person who brought a statistical explanation to entropy and…

Student success and attempts on hundreds of online homework problems housed in a fully interactive online textbook, Material and Energy Balances zyBook, were studied over three cohorts of students (n=284). Auto-graded homework questions with randomized numbers and content can explore proficiency in the course material. Students are allowed to…

The science curriculum in the Turkish education system includes socioscientific issues (SSI) as a context for developing students' reasoning skills, scientific thinking habits, and decision-making skills from an early age. Conducting activities on real problems with teachers and pre-service teachers based on SSI and making decisions considering…

A global shortage of qualified physics teachers requires some teachers to teach physics out-of-field (OOF). A concern for OOF physics teaching is that without appropriate physics content knowledge (CK), these teachers tend to focus on rote learning and may find it difficult to support students who require additional assistance or extension; they…

Spices, of course, do not make a meal, but they make a meal more enjoyable and memorable. Games do the same, allowing teachers to interact with their students in a different way than they normally do. They also have the potential to challenge and assess students' understanding of content. Games allow teachers to "play" with their…

Despite the number of university students who take courses in multiple science disciplines, little is known about how they connect concepts between disciplines. Energy is a concept that underlies all scientific phenomena and, as such, provides an appropriate context in which to investigate student connections and misconnections across disciplines.…

This mixed-methods study examines the implications of using the tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to design an elementary science lesson grounded in four virtual reality (VR) videos. Given the need for additional understandings of how elementary science educators can infuse cultural relevance alongside content development, this study…

Socio-scientific issues (SSI) are recommended by many science educators worldwide for learners to acquire first hand experience to apply what they learned in class. This investigated experiences of teacher-researcher and students in using SSI in Physical Science, Second Semester, School Year 2012-2013. Latest and controversial news articles on…

The objective of this study was to characterise the changes in the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) about electric fields of two Colombian physics teachers (Isabel and Alejandro) at the high school level (pupils of ages 17-19), the emotions and their relationship with PCK. The research was conducted during two consecutive years, before and…

The purpose of this study was to identify evidence in student work of teachers' uptake of educative features in educative curriculum materials. These are features in curriculum materials designed with the specific intent of supporting teacher learning and enactment. This study was prompted by previous work on educative curriculum materials and the…

The introduction of problem-based learning into K-12 science classrooms faces the challenge of achieving the dual goal of learning science content and developing problem-solving skills. To overcome this content-process tension in science classrooms, we employed the knowledge-creation approach as a boundary object between the two seemingly…

The study found out the role that some selected science curricula of the pre-tertiary level of education in Ghana played with respect to climate change education. Content analysis was used to analyze four science curricula of the pre-tertiary levels of education in Ghana, namely, the curriculum for primary, Grades 1 to 3 (age = 6-9 years);…

Describes a course designed to familiarize students with alternative sources of energy, with emphasis on problem-solving strategies. Includes list of major topics/subtopics addressed and list of textbooks and recommended readings on alternative energy sources. (JN)

A program for teaching the concepts of electric energy, voltage, and current is proposed. The ideas and concepts are introduced in a sequence that places more emphasis on some aspects that are normally treated very briefly. A phenomenological orientation, qualitative and quantitative micro- and macroscopic treatments, and the inclusion of the…