Young children and science are a perfect fit, and now more than ever they need a strong foundation of science literacy. Early childhood science educator Cindy Hoisington makes a case for increasing quality science instruction in the early grades so that our next generation will become curious observers ready to tackle complex science issues and…

When it comes to winning the hearts of children, it is sometimes hard for plants to compete. How do teachers make plants exciting for children? The answer lies in the ancient practice of hydroponics. Hydroponics may seem like complicated, cutting-edge technology, but, in fact, it has been around for centuries. Using hydroponics in the classroom…

Background: This dissertation examines the pervasive influence of the white and colonial imaginary in shaping educational narratives that promote neoliberal success and capitalism, impacting the minds of successive generations. Contemporary youth perceive these narratives as detrimental, contributing to racial violence, climate-induced…

Research and national surveys show that deficiencies in elementary science teaching preparation are frustratingly persistent. Understanding positive and negative emotions as they relate to planning and teaching science is relevant for both the well-being of teachers and the quality of their teaching. There needs to be more empirical evidence on…

This study aimed to: 1) assess the impact of a STEAM education learning package on grade 10 students' science process skills, 2) evaluate its effect on their learning achievement concerning the physical properties of materials, and 3) gauge the students' satisfaction with the learning package. The participants were 13 grade 10 students from a…

Preparing elementary students to think and communicate like an engineer is possible, but requires a sequence of lessons spanning multiple classroom experiences that are aligned to multiple performance expectations (PEs). This article identifies how multiple PEs can be clustered to meet the instructional goals set forth in the "Next Generation…

This article seeks to use Dewey's interpretation of pragmatism and education as a model for how dominant notions of school exemplify a e. The article argues that Dewey sought to commodify nature as a tool for human progress. This aspect of Dewey's beliefs is further demonstrated in the kind of schooling that is being implemented through…

The Next Generation Science Standards lay out a model of energy that locates energy within objects and fields, and tracks energy as it transfers between these objects and transforms between forms of energy while always being conserved. This model of energy pervades much of modern science and represents a foundational, cross-cutting concept for…

Children are very curious about the world around them. You may find them peering at tadpoles in a pond, counting ants on a log, or wondering about the stars, the sun, and the moon. I have been asked many times: Is the moon really made of cheese? Do astronauts live on the moon? Why does the moon look different every time I look up? Introducing…

According to the National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education (2018), only 16% of the elementary teachers surveyed reported including hands-on activities in all or most of their lessons. Strategies that engage students in hands-on investigations help improve student achievement (Minner, Levy, and Century 2010) and provide students with a…

This dissertation examines students' social-emotional experience with knowledge building pedagogy from the lenses of grit and growth mindset. The goal of this dissertation is to understand how interest, perseverance of effort and growth mindset oriented feedback engage students social emotionally in knowledge building to sustain and deepen their…

Inquiry-based science instruction has been proposed as an optimal learning environment for language-integrated teaching. While its potential for developing both content knowledge and language skills has been shown for students with limited language proficiency, research focusing on mainstream classrooms has mainly considered domain-specific…

It might sound to some like an impossible target to give children 22 hours of scientific enquiry by Christmas, but the current COVID-19 pandemic has already demonstrated its capacity to make the impossible happen and to upturn so many of the assumptions that have shaped the way people teach and learn. Children can reach 22 hours of enquiry if…

Research-based science curriculum has become a common means of supporting best practices in science teaching. However, despite one elementary school's adoption of commercially available science curriculum, the school's fifth-grade teacher selected only certain science modules for implementation in her classroom. The purpose of this narrative study…

The paper describes our research aimed to verify the durability of pupils' initial ideas and concepts on the issue of acids and bases. First, we mapped their existence among primary school pupils and then compared them with the ideas of secondary and university educated adults. It has been confirmed that some initial ideas are very lasting and are…