We describe how young students situate themselves with respect to astronomy through an identity framework that features four dimensions: interest, utility value, confidence, and conceptual knowledge. Overall, about 900 Italian students, from 5th to 9th grade (9-14 years old), were involved in the study. We tested our model using confirmatory…

The concept of energy serves biologists as a powerful analytical model to describe phenomena that occurs in the natural world. Due to the concept's relevance, educational standards of different countries identify energy as a core idea for the teaching and learning of biology and other science subjects. However, previous research on students'…

In this research, we analyze the process of expansion of the communicative repertoires during science teaching, observing how the bilinguality and literacy of the students are developed through this process. The context of the study is the English lesson integrated into the teaching of science at the Municipal School Jose Calil Ahouagi in Juiz de…

Threshold concepts are essential ideas about the natural world that present either a barrier or a gateway to a deep understanding of science. Weight, mass, and gravity are threshold concepts that underpin students' abilities to understand important ideas in all fields of science, embodied in the performance expectations in the Next Generation…

There are many transition points in the school life of a child, but the move from primary to secondary school is a particularly significant one. How can both the social and academic threads remain intact? In this article, Kristen Mould discusses the main issues relating to transition from primary to secondary science. She cites the primary factors…

This paper presents a series of illustrative LEGO Mindstorms-based science and math activities, developed under an NSF GK-12 Fellows project, for elementary, middle, and high school grades. The activities, developed by engineering and science graduate Fellows in partnership with K-12 teachers, are grade appropriate, address pertinent learning…

Student conceptions related with matter and the particulate nature of matter (PNM), are vital for advanced understanding in chemistry, and have been a research area of significant attention. Lacking in the literature are studies addressing chemical misconceptions from an ontological point of view. The purpose of the current study was to develop a…

This article presents an authentic writing opportunity to help ninth-grade students use the writing process in a science classroom to write and illustrate picture books for fourth-grade students to demonstrate and share their understanding of a biology unit on cells. By creating a picture book, students experience the writing process, understand…

In this interdisciplinary and field-based activity, grade 5 to 9 students engage in a comprehensive scientific study of snow. Through a series of in-class and out-of-class structured interdisciplinary and team-teaching lesson progressions, students will collect data to be able to analyze and apply knowledge about weather, the physical properties…

Intended to promote the innovative use of technology in education and promote educational advances all over the world, this volume brings together 16 best-practice cases on technology-enhanced educational innovations. Experts from Turkey, Tunisia, Cyprus, Italy, Malaysia, China, India and Finland have contributed to these cases, highlighting the…

The purpose of this research was to determine whether videoconferencing combined with face-to-face instruction, as used in the delivery of the NASA Digital Learning Network "Can A Shoebox Fly? Challenge" module, was a feasible instructional method to increase positive student attitudes towards science. Overall, the data indicated that…

This is an empirical examination of the quality of teacher assignments and student work in Singapore schools. Using a theoretical framework based on principles of authentic assessment and intellectual quality, two sets of criteria and scoring rubrics were developed for the training of expert teachers to judge the quality of assignments and student…

This study examined science textbooks over time to better understand the "science content" expectations that the U.S. educational system deems appropriate for 8th and 9th grade science students. The study attempted to answer the questions: (1) What specific science content has been presented via the textbook from 1952 to 2008? (2) Within…

This report concerns a descriptive study undertaken in 1982-1983 as part of the Second International Science Study (SISS) under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) for the purpose of examining key elements of K-12 science instruction in the United States. Special attention was directed…

The purpose of this study was to explore the utility of the Theory of Planned Behavior for predicting the behavioral intentions of teachers enrolled in the Institute in Physical Science. The study investigated three determinants of teachers' behavioral intentions set forth in the theory of planned behavior, namely attitude toward the behavior,…