Science education is crucial for fostering knowledge across academic disciplines. Past efforts to enhance science achievement at the elementary level have explored various instructional strategies. Among these, the Understanding by Design (UbD) model has shown notable potential in improving science achievement outcomes compared to traditional…

This study examined the effect of using critical reading in scientific texts on students' academic achievement, sci-ence performance level and creativity. The study was conducted with 5th grade students in Eregli, Zonguldak during the 2017-2018 academic year. The study group consisted of a total of 34 students, 17 in the experimental group and 17…

This qualitative practice-based study explores the efficacy of reformed-based science teaching approaches in fostering meaningful student engagement within elementary science classrooms, framed within the science-as-practice paradigm. Utilizing three theoretical frameworks, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Ambitious Science…

In previous work, we described how three teachers differentially create opportunities for students to act as epistemic agents and to engage in collective knowledge-building work (Alzen et al., 2020). The descriptive nature of this previous research provided information about what variability can look like in classrooms attempting these…

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a design thinking teaching and learning model on students' design thinking skills in science class. The study utilised two projects, 'Making a Simple Solar Water Heater' and 'Drawing a 3D Topographic Map of Zhejiang Province,' based on the 5th-grade science curriculum in China, and involved 45…

This action research study aimed to find ways to adjust my practice by incorporating inquiry-based, science activities and virtual simulations to improve student conceptual understanding of physical and chemical changes. A multi-lesson, curricular intervention combining inquiry-based activities and virtual simulations was developed using…

For decades, stark disparities in academic achievement have existed between racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse students and White students. These discrepancies have resulted in significantly less of these marginalized students enrolling in higher level science courses and, subsequently, pursuing careers in science fields. While these…

Science is one of the most important subjects for students at all educational levels. To promote engagement, hands-on experiments can provide a 'realistic and exciting experience of the content' (Holstermann, Grube and Bögeholz, 2010: 744) and hopefully facilitate motivation. In this article, George Stylos and Konstantinos T. Kotsis present four…

Worksheets are common in science classrooms with an aim to support pupils' meaning-making, e.g., for guiding them in performing hands-on activities and documenting their experiences of such activities. Yet, there have been few systematic studies of pupils' disciplinary representations in worksheets. Drawing on systemic functional linguistics, we…

Game-based learning has attracted great interest in science education as an effective way to increase student achievement. Most studies in this field have focused on digital or non-digital games. In the literature, some studies generally compare educational games with traditional teaching methods. More studies need to be conducted to compare the…

The aims of teaching have evolved along with the society in which we live, from a teaching based in memory to a one that teaches to reason, in order to adapt to the accelerated rate of change imposed by the application of scientific discoveries in our society. We have a society in continuous learning, which requires the ability to reason in order…

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…

The aim of this study was to explore the needs for the identification of design elements of a web-based learning system that would help students develop their science process skills (SPS) to be used in science lessons. A descriptive survey method was adopted as the methodology of the study. Survey data was collected from a sample of 36 teachers…

This study seeks to examine the effect of the 5E learning model, as one of the constructivist learning approach models, supported by conceptual change texts and enriched with relevant guidance materials on eliminating the fifth-grade students' (n=42) misconceptions about "Heat and Temperature". A quantitative research approach was…

The need for data literacy is an increasingly pressing priority in society, but most of the work in data-centred education has focused on developing skills at the middle school, secondary, and post-secondary levels, with little attention on the potential for engaging elementary-aged students in reasoning with and about data. This paper reports…