This paper argues the possible simultaneous development and transfer of students' argumentation skills from one socio-scientific issue to another in a Confucian classroom. In Malaysia, the Chinese vernacular schools follow a strict Confucian philosophy in the teaching and learning process. The teacher talks and the students listen. This case…

It is commonly argued that socio-economic inequalities can explain many of the differences in achievement and participation in science education that have been reported among countries and among schools within a country. We addressed this issue by examining (a) the relationship between variables associated with socio-economic background and…

Some studies related to the nature of scientific knowledge demonstrate that modelling is an inherently argumentative process. This study aims at discussing the relationship between modelling and argumentation by analysing data collected during the modelling-based teaching of ionic bonding and intermolecular interactions. The teaching activities…

The aim of this study was to describe student learning after completing an experiential learning task that was designed to develop students' knowledge of food and food preparation methods. The task required students to follow a special diet and then complete a daily online journal entry about the experience for other students to read and…

Foodborne illnesses remain a common problem in the United States. Focus group results indicated that lack of knowledge and improper handling of leftovers were common among food preparers in families with young children. The USDA-recommended storage time for leftovers was used to develop and conduct a food safety social marketing campaign, "4…

One of the fundamental aims of education is the integration of theory and practice. The case method is a teaching strategy in which students must apply their knowledge to solve real-life situations. They have to analyze the case described and propose the best possible solution. Although the case may be written, the use of new information and…

The objective of this teaching tip is to share with others an idea of how to transform student projects from a dead-end process to a value-added end product, value-added end products that make a meaningful and lasting contribution to course content for use by future students. (Contains 2 tables.)

This ethnographic study at a public high school in the Northeastern United States investigates the process of change in students' environmental identity and proenvironmental behaviors during an Environmental Science course. The study explores how sociocultural factors, such as students' background, social interactions, and classroom structures,…

The purpose of this study was to explore Chinese and Australian primary children's conceptual understandings of the Earth. The research was conducted in the interpretive paradigm and was designed to be descriptive with comparative and cross sectional elements. Participants were Year 3 and Year 6 children from three schools in Hunan Province,…

In this forum, I extend Tao, Oliver, and Venville's paper "Chinese and Australian children's understanding of the earth: a cross cultural study of conceptual development" to discuss the different views on culture and cultural mediation. I tease out nuances in the viewpoints to suggest three ways to theoretically frame studies examining cultural…

Teacher-researcher narrative accounts are essential and insightful for the science education field, yet they are few and far-between. In this forum, I engage in dialogue with Nicole Grimes's auto-ethnographic narrative on the affordances her femme-Caribbean identity allowed for some students to engage more deeply in science. While I agree with and…

As a supporter of informal and alternative learning environments for science learning I am pleased to add to the discussion generated by Adriana Briseno-Garzon's article, "More than science: family learning in a Mexican science museum". I am keenly aware of the value of active family involvement in education in general, and science education in…

Latin American audiences living in their countries of origin are poorly understood as museum learners due to the scarcity of research in this field. Through a case study approach, I investigate and report on the ways of learning of 20 Mexican family groups. In particular, I examine the influence of the Mexican sociocultural context on the…

The discussion in this forum aims to push some of the ideas further and thus clarify some of the concepts used in the feature article. This includes a debate of the concepts of meaning making, procedural and conceptual learning experiences, the distinction between realism and constructivism in our research practice, and finally how to foster…

The original article by Kamberelis and Wehunt (2012) discusses an interesting and important research subject in science education as it focus on classroom interactions and the characteristics of the discourse production of interlocutors. The authors start from the premise that discourse heterogeneity is constitutive of social activities, which is…