Content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and, assessment knowledge (AK) are fundamental types of teachers' knowledge. Second-career, pre-service chemistry teachers leave the industry and return to the Technion to study in the "Views" program to obtain a high school teaching certificate. Their background can potentially…

In recent years teachers' education programs encourage preservice teachers to practice a variety of assessment methods to prepare them to be highly qualified practitioners who are capable in enhancing students' scientific understanding. Formative assessment (FA) -- also known as assessment for learning -- involves the process of seeking and…

Facilitating students' chemical literacy is a focal point of current science education. This study examines views of chemists and chemistry teachers on chemical literacy and, more broadly, on scientific literacy of four kinds of stakeholders: scientists, teachers, STEM students, and the educated public. We explored the views of 347 participants,…

In many countries, the choice of a STEM career, especially in chemistry, is decreasing. A shortage of appropriately skilled workers can become a threat to any country's future achievements. Our research strives to understand behavioral trends and career choice factors related to personal and environmental themes. Building on the foundations of the…

Despite the advancements in the production and accessibility of videos and animations, a gap exists between their potential for science teaching and their actual use in the classroom. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate an approach to boost chemistry and biology teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and their…

This work seeks to solve one of the basic problems in chemistry learning: understanding the chemical bond as a dynamic equilibrium between attractive and repulsive forces. This force-based model is difficult to grasp, as there are no analogues from everyday life for both attractions and repulsions happening simultaneously. In addition, current…

Regular high-school chemistry teachers view gifted students as one of several types of students in a regular (mixed-ability) classroom. Gifted students have a range of unique abilities that characterize their learning process: mostly they differ in three key learning aspects: their faster learning pace, increased depth of understanding, and…

An ongoing process of reforming chemical education in middle and high schools in our country introduced the technology-enhanced learning environment (TELE) to chemistry classes. Teachers are encouraged to integrate technology into pedagogical practices in meaningful ways to promote 21st century skills; however, this effort is often hindered by…

The high-school chemistry curriculum is loaded with many important chemical concepts that are taught at the high-school level and it is therefore very difficult to add modern contents to the existing curriculum. However, many studies have underscored the importance of integrating modern chemistry contents such as nanotechnology into a high-school…

Educational research and policy suggest inquiry as one of the most prominent ways of promoting effective science education. However, traditional approaches towards inquiry learning are not always sufficiently motivating for all learners. The EU-funded project, TEMI--Teaching Enquiry with Mysteries Incorporated, suggests that mysterious scientific…

This study examines chemistry lecturers' considerations for using open educational resources (OER) in their teaching. Recent technological developments provide innovative approaches for teaching chemistry and visualizing chemical phenomena. End users' improved ability to upload information online enables integration of various pedagogical models…

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) stands at the center of several EU projects and represents a contemporary view of the connection between science and society. The goal of RRI is to create a shared understanding of the appropriate behaviors of governments, business and NGOs which are central to building trust and confidence of the public…

In an era in which information is rapidly growing and changing, it is very important to teach with the goal of students' engagement in life-long learning in mind. This can partially be achieved by developing transferable thinking skills. In our previous paper--Part I, we conducted a review of the transfer literature and suggested a three-attribute…

Most undergraduate chemistry courses and a few high school honors courses, which focus on physical chemistry and quantum mechanics, are highly mathematically-oriented. At the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, we developed a new module for high school students, titled "Chemistry--From 'the Hole' to 'the Whole': From the Nanoscale to…

This study focuses on using wikis as a learning environment, as part of a professional development program for chemistry teacher leaders. The study was performed in Israel and involved 20 chemistry teachers. One goal was to investigate how using wiki may promote effective science teacher professional development. Various aspects of the teachers'…