The purpose of this study was to investigate the alternative conceptions about burning phenomena among Atayal indigene elementary school students in Taiwan. The main difference from other relevant research is that this study assesses Atayal people's worldview by means of a questionnaire developed specifically for this purpose. There were three…

Concept inventories are often used to assess current student understanding although conceptual change models are problematic. Due to controversies with conceptual change models and the realities of student assessment, it is important that concept inventories are evaluated using a variety of theoretical models to improve quality. This study used a…

The aims of the study were to investigate (a) the relationship between the attitudes toward biology and perceptions of the biology learning environment among grade 11 students in Tulkarm District, Palestine and (b) the effect of gender and residence of these students on their attitudes toward biology and on their perceptions of the biology…

This study examined the differential impacts of an inquiry-based instruction on conceptual changes across levels of prior knowledge and reading ability. The instrument emphasized four simultaneously important components: conceptual knowledge, reading ability, attitude toward science, and learning environment. Although the learning patterns and…

This study examined science teachers' conceptions of creativity in science education, pedagogical ideas, and contextual factors perceived as constraints on teaching for creativity and any differences in the conceptions of teachers from South Korea and the United States. Participants in the study consisted of 44 South Korean and 21 US secondary…

Utilizing video study methodology where participants, as well as the researcher, analyzed their own video data, this research examined the nature of students talking aloud during peer collaborations in mathematics. The findings suggest that students engage in three types of talking aloud: (1) clarification of thinking (i.e. spontaneous utterances…

Public concerns about biotechnology have resulted in greater attention being paid to the mechanisms by which biotechnology is communicated with non-scientists, including the provision of science communication training. As undergraduate and postgraduate courses form the foundation of the biotechnology sector by providing a pipeline of university…

The purposes of this study were to understand the nature of discourse in terms of knowledge types and cognitive process, source of utterances (student or teacher), and time use in microcomputer-based labs (MBL) and verification type labs (VTL) and to gain an understanding of the role of MBL in promoting mathematization. The study was conducted in…

This article will describe the dispositions of science teachers in the context of a curriculum reform. Using Bourdieu's notions of "habitus" and "the field," the analysis of the data highlights the necessity for curriculum reformers to view the field of the science department as a contested space. From this understanding flow several subsidiary…

This article describes an effort to explore and enhance argumentation skills of Taiwanese grade 6 students through instruction in socioscientific issues. An experienced elementary school teacher was given 8 months of personalized instruction on argumentation skills and socioscientific issues, then subsequently implemented a 17-h classroom unit on…

This study examines the views of people involved in mathematics education regarding the commonly stated goal of using mathematics learning to develop deductive reasoning that is usable outside of mathematical contexts. The data source includes 21 individual semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study show that the interviewees ascribed…

Current mathematics education reforms devoted to reasoning and proof highlight its importance in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. In order to provide students with opportunities to experience and understand proof, mathematics teachers must have a solid understanding of proofs themselves. In light of this challenge, a growing number of…

According to reform documents, teachers are expected to teach proofs and proving in school mathematics. Research results indicate that high school students prefer verbal proofs to other formats. We found it interesting and important to examine the position of secondary school teachers with regard to verbal proofs. Fifty high school teachers were…

As people attempt to make sense of the world, they develop personal knowledge structures. These structures often contain misconceptions--inaccurate or incomplete information--that are highly resistant to change because existing knowledge networks must be restructured to accommodate counterintuitive information in a process known as conceptual…

The main purpose of this research was to explore the developmental process of and possible changes in beginning elementary mathematics teachers' efficacy. Beginning teachers with and without mathematics and science backgrounds were also compared to explore differences in their efficacy development. A multiple-case study method with a process and…