The "Current Insights" feature is designed to introduce life science educators and researchers to current articles of interest in other social science and education journals. In this installment, I highlight three diverse research studies out of psychology journals that address student study strategies, faculty change, and the influence…

The "Current Insights" feature is intended to highlight diverse perspectives on teaching, learning and cognition from outside life sciences education. In this installment, I feature recent examples of scholarship examining the intersections between culture and equity in science education. The articles in this set build on intuitions we…

This volume represents both recent research in pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), as well as emerging innovations in how PCK is applied in practice. The notion of "research to practice" is critical to validating how effectively PCK works within the clinic and how it can be used to…

Discipline-based education researchers have a natural laboratory--classrooms, programs, colleges, and universities. Studies that administer treatments to multiple sections, in multiple years, or at multiple institutions are particularly compelling for two reasons: first, the sample sizes increase, and second, the implementation of the treatments…

Describes a study in Nigeria comparing achievement in biology with a student's preference for cooperative or competitive learning situations. Proposes that rural children prefer cooperative learning strategies while urban children prefer competitive ones. Presents data proposing that learning preference (cooperative vs competitive) directly…

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of variables such as gender, class and parental education level, family income level on motivation levels of students to learn science and do research, performance, communication, collaborative work and participation. The study group of the study was in the 2015-2016 academic year, public schools in…

This study employed hierarchical linear models (HLM) to investigate Peer-Led Guided Inquiry (PLGI), a teaching practice combining cooperative learning and inquiry and tailored for a large class. Ultimately, the study provided an example of the effective introduction of a reform pedagogical approach in a large class setting. In the narrative, the…

This document presents reports of three studies focused on cooperative pedagogical strategies. The first concerns individualistic and cooperative goal structures in high school mathematics achievement. Two general mathematics classes were taught a unit on percents, one with a cooperative and the other an individualistic goal structure. The…

In this article, the authors describe critical issues related to the pursuit of rigorous and innovative research in the fields of mathematics and science education. The paper is framed to help researchers consider aspects of both their research project and their research proposal. The authors describe features of high-quality and fundable research…

Animated pedagogical agents (APAs) have the potential to provide one-on-one, just-in-time instruction, guidance or mentoring in classrooms where such individualized human interactions may be infeasible. Much current APA research focuses on a wide range of design variables tested with small samples or in laboratory settings, while overlooking…

This study reports teachers' learning through action research on students' conceptual understanding. The study examined (a) the teachers' views about science teaching and learning, (b) the teachers' learning about their teaching practices and (c) the conditions that supported the teachers' learning through action research. A total of 14 elementary…

What is science for a child? How do children learn about science and how to do science? Drawing on a vast array of work from neuroscience to classroom observation, "Taking Science to School" provides a comprehensive picture of what we know about teaching and learning science from kindergarten through eighth grade. By looking at a broad range of…

Recent science reform documents have called for incorporating authentic scientific discourse into science classes as engaging in discourse has shown to result in numerous benefits. Whether these benefits are observed in students depends upon the quality of the discourse in which they engage. However, characterizing the quality of student-student…

The purpose of this study was to explore how the needs, actions, and beliefs of teacher and students interact with the constraints of the classroom and the curriculum to establish an atmosphere conducive to effective learning of physics in grade 11. An interpretive research methodology was used to investigate the students' and teachers' needs,…

This volume in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Learners series was designed to deepen teacher's knowledge and provides instructional approaches and practices for supporting grades 6-12 ELLs as they meet the ambitious expectations of the CCSS for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. This…