The purpose of the investigation was to determine the meanings attached by students to the different kinds of molecular structure representations used in chemistry teaching. The students (n = 124) were from primary (aged 13-14 years) and secondary (aged 17-18 years) schools and a university (aged 21-25 years). A computerised "Chemical…

The purpose of this research was to investigate and describe concrete examples of Year 1 students engaged in "good thinking" and to generate assertions about the ways teachers can foster habits of "good thinking" through science. The research design was a multiple case study of 32 lessons, of which four are analysed in detail in this paper. The…

In this article we analyse the interaction between a high school chemistry teacher and her students from two different classes, emphasizing how emotions, affects and feelings contributed to, or obstructed, the dynamic of interactions. The data come from an ethnographic research approach and include videotapes of the lessons, interviews and field…

While astronomy has recently re-emerged in many science curricula, there remain unresolved teaching and learning difficulties peculiar to astronomy education. This paper argues that mental model building, the core process in astronomy itself, should be reflected in astronomy education. Also, this crucial skill may promote a better understanding of…

Constructivist, hands-on, inquiry-based, science activities may have a curative potential that could be valuable in a psychological assistance programme for child victims of violence and war. To investigate this idea, pilot sessions were performed in an orphanage located in Ruhengeri, Rwanda, with seven young adults and two groups of 11 children…

This paper reports the development of attitudes to science and science teaching scales for primary teachers. The investigation is part of a project intended to improve pupil achievement in science in 16 English city schools. The baseline performance of the attitude scales is reported with 76 teachers, half of whom formed a control group. The…

Chemistry is commonly portrayed at three different levels of representation--macroscopic, submicroscopic and symbolic--that combine to enrich the explanations of chemical concepts. In this article, we examine the use of submicroscopic and symbolic representations in chemical explanations and ascertain how they provide meaning. Of specific interest…

Improving science education is often regarded as a priority for developing countries in order to promote longterm economic development. Thus initiatives, both government and foreign-aid sponsored, aimed at improving science education in developing countries abound. However, all too often the focus of such initiatives is limited to the development…

This study investigated how students' level of motivation and use of specific cognitive and self-regulatory strategies changed over time, and how these motivational and cognitive components in turn predicted students' course performance in chemistry. Participants were 458 students enrolled in introductory college chemistry classes. Participants'…

This paper explicates a pattern of scientific argumentation in which scientists respond to causal questions with the generation and test of alternative hypotheses through cycles of hypothetico-predictive argumentation. Hypothetico-predictive arguments are employed to test causal claims that exist on at least two levels (designated stage 4 in which…

In this study we analyse how the experiences of chemistry teachers on the use of a Microcomputer-Based Laboratory (MBL), gathered by a Likert-scale instrument, can be utilized to develop the new package "Empirica 2000." We used exploratory factor analysis to identify the essential features in a large set of questionnaire data to see how our…

This paper reports the use of a research-based, web-delivered, technology-and-science education context (the Generative Virtual Classroom) in which student-teachers can develop their ability to recognize, describe, analyse and theorize learning. Addressing well-recognized concerns about narrowly conceived, anachronistic and ineffective…

In their paper, Martinez, Solanto, and Jiminez compared a number of methodologies used to describe students' understandings of scientific conceptions. One of the issues raised by the authors was the lack of a theoretical platform based in the area of cognition upon which the data were analysed. This paper investigates students' understandings of…

Genetic engineering is now an integral part of many high school textbooks but little work has been done to assess whether it is being properly addressed. A checklist with 19 items was used to analyze how genetic engineering is presented in biology textbooks commonly used in Spanish high schools, including the content, its relationship with…

Physicists and physics students have been studied with respect to the variation in the ways they expound on their topic of research and a physics problem, respectively. A phenomenographic approach has been employed; six fourth-year physics students and 10 teacher-researcher physicists at various stages of their careers have been interviewed. Four…