This study explores the roles that regional partners play in helping to support implementation of the GLOBE program, an international earth science and education initiative. Researchers at SRI International conducted case studies of two GLOBE partners' practices in an effort to identify the factors that contribute to effective implementation of…

Responding to the increasing math and science teacher shortage in the United States, this study intended to determine which science, engineering, and math (SEM) majors during which years in their undergraduate education and from which academic performance levels are most interested in K-12 teaching. Results may aid policymakers and practitioners…

This case study documents an example of inquiry learning and teaching during a summer institute for elementary and middle school teachers. A small group constructed an explanatory model for an intriguing optical phenomenon that they were observing. Research questions included: What physics thinking did the learners express? What aspects of…

A new but costly approach to providing visitors of zoos with information on conservation is the presentation of small exhibits by zoo professionals or volunteers. At these "touch tables" visitors can find out about the biology, ecology, and conservation of animals kept in the zoo. We studied the effect of a touch table on visitors' learning in a…

In the present study we attempt to incorporate the philosophical dialogue about physical reality into the instructional process of quantum mechanics. Taking into account that both scientific realism and constructivism represent, on the basis of a rather broad spectrum, prevalent philosophical currents in the domain of science education, the…

Aquarium views, or AqViews, offer a glimpse into a split-phase aquatic system that is not normally afforded to terrestrial viewers. Although geologist Henry De la Beche created the AqView prototype two decades before the advent of the aquarium, this graphic type did not become popular until after the Victorian aquarium craze. We investigate the…

The history of science shows that for each scientific issue there may be more than one models that are simultaneously accepted by the scientific community. One such case concerns the wave and corpuscular models of light. Newton claimed that he had proved some properties of light based on a set of minimal assumptions, without any commitments to any…

In this paper are presented the views of Al Haytham and his predecessors on the shadows, the rectilinear propagation of rays and the images produced by pinholes. Al Haytham had given erroneous views on the distribution of light in the shadows. Educational applications of these are presented. These applications concern: (a) Simple experiments (b)…

The present work is concerned with one of the most successful books popularizing astronomy of the last half of the 19th century, published in France under the title "L' Astronomie Populaire". The book was translated into Greek and was the first book, out of 100, which was published in order to be a part of a popular library meant to educate the…

In the current paper, the reasons why the late 19th century Greek university community of natural scientists used elements from the History of Natural sciences which refer exclusively to ancient Greek science, and the consequences of such a choice are evaluated. Emphasis will be given to the speech delivered by the Dean, Professor of Chemistry, A.…

James Wandersee asked in 1986: "Can History of Science help science educators anticipate students" misconceptions?. This paper aims to answer the same question by attempting a comparative bibliographical study between the assumptions of early philosophers and the conceptions of children relating to the roles of light and the eye in the process of…

The contents of the Greek magazine "Physicos Cosmos" include science popularization, teaching proposals, and issues of educational concern. The magazine is addressed to teachers of physics and, consequently, to grammar-school pupils/students. Its articles ranged, in general, from short texts taken from physical sciences to more specialized…

Thomas Kuhn draws the distinction between textbook history of science and history of science proper. The question addressed in the paper is whether Kuhn recommends the inclusion of distortive textbook history in science education. It is argued, pace Fuller, that Kuhn does not make normative suggestions. He does not urge the teaching of bad history…

Lave and Wenger have proposed that learning is situated and occurs by means of legitimate peripheral participation within a community of practice, in contrast with conventional schools which are based upon the assumption that knowledge can be decontextualized. I argue that their perspective is inappropriate for science teaching, because a newcomer…

The different and contrasting versions of the etymology of the term "electricity" in Modern Greek textbooks of Physics of the 18th and 19th century, which are influenced by French and German textbooks, are not mere (re)constructions that serve the didactic purposes and objectives of their authors. They are (in)directly related to the social and…