This study examined how using two different ways of displaying the solar system--a true-to-scale mode vs. an orrery mode--affected students' knowledge of astronomical concepts. Solar system displays were presented in a software application on a handheld tablet computer. In the true-to-scale mode, users navigated a simulated three-dimensional…

Dissection of lab specimens is a common procedure in science classrooms, yet there are many unasked and unexamined questions relating to this practice. In addition to ethical considerations, there are personal and environmental health impacts of using conventional dissection, which has historically included animals and animal organs embalmed in…

Previous studies have reported on the inadequacy of youth knowledge and practice of food safety principles. The formal high school science classroom environment presents an opportunity to stimulate interest and increase knowledge in food safety with potential benefits to students in improved science literacy, development of life skills, and…

Increasingly, teacher leadership is being recognized as an essential ingredient in education reforms; however, few teachers consider themselves leaders. Becoming a leader is not just acquiring knowledge and skills for leadership, but developing a new "professional identity." As teachers become leaders, however, this identity might put…

Though addressing sources of uncertainty is an important part of doing science, it has largely been neglected in assessing students' scientific argumentation. In this study, we initially defined a scientific argumentation construct in four structural elements consisting of claim, justification, uncertainty qualifier, and uncertainty…

Inquiry provides both the impetus and experience that helps students acquire problem solving and lifelong learning skills. Teachers on the Strategies for Assessment of Inquiry Learning in Science Project (SAILS) strengthened their inquiry pedagogy, through focusing on seeking assessment evidence for formative action. This paper reports on both the…

Inquiry-based science education (IBSE) seems to be the appropriate method to encourage interest in science and technology education. The core principles of IBSE are involvement of students in discovering natural laws, linking information into a meaningful context, developing critical thinking and promoting positive attitudes towards science. IBSE…

This article reports a study into how mobile phones could be used to enhance teaching and learning in secondary school science. It describes four lessons devised by groups of Sri Lankan teachers all of which centred on the use of the mobile phone cameras rather than their communication functions. A qualitative methodological approach was used to…

This article presents the design of an immersive simulation and inquiry activity for technology-enhanced classrooms. Using a co-design method, researchers worked with a high school biology teacher to create a rainforest simulation, distributed across several large displays in the room to immerse students in the environment. The authors created and…

In March of 2009, Mr. John Holloway and his neighbors in the Harmony Park district of Kansas City, MO, were excited to begin gardening on a vacant city lot in their neighborhood. The neighborhood, like many in urban areas, had once been residential interspersed with small establishments including restaurants, shops, and businesses such as auto…

As global issues continue to place increasing demands on soil resources, the need to provide soil science education to the next generation of soil scientists and the general public is becoming more imminent. In many countries around the world, including Canada, soil is either not included in the high school curriculum or it is not covered in…

This article explores pre-service and in-service science teachers' perceptions on active learning, and examines the effectiveness of active learning by pre-service science teachers in the Irish second level classroom through a two-phase study. In the first phase, data on perceptions were gathered from final year pre-service teachers and…

In recent years, school science has been the target of increasing critique for two reasons. On the one hand, it is said to enforce "epic" images of science that celebrate the heroes and heroic deeds that established the scientific canon and its methods and thereby falsifies the history and nature of science. On the other hand, the…

This historical review traces the origins of the Kimball free-cloud model of the chemical bond, otherwise known as the charge-cloud or tangent-sphere model, and the central role it played in attempts to reform the introductory chemical curriculum at both the high school and college levels in the 1960s. It also critically evaluates the limitations…

This article describes the development of the Redox Concept Inventory (ROXCI) as a measure of students' understandings and confidence of both the symbolic and particulate domains of oxidation-reduction (redox) reactions. The ROXCI was created using a mixed-methods design in which the items were developed based upon themes that emerged from…