This study examined the impact of microteaching experiences of preservice elementary teachers enrolled in a science teaching methods course. The microteaching lessons targeted the physical science concepts represented in the Texas Educational Agency's exam for early childhood through sixth grade teacher certification. The results of this study…

Curricular reforms in science education represent an opportunity for changes in instructional approaches with the intent of making learning and teaching more meaningful and effective. While beginning teachers may receive instruction on pedagogy aligned with adopted reforms, veteran teachers need support and development to implement instruction…

The present study elaborates on a domain-specific approach to NOS (Nature Of Science) and employs a NOTSs (Nature Of The Sciences) agenda to investigate how Greek in-service physics teachers understand the unique features of school physics and biology. Our theoretical framework focuses on the notion of worldview and important differences that…

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to investigate prospective elementary teachers' conceptual understanding of buoyancy. Specifically, the study aimed to identify the scientifically accepted conceptions, and misconceptions that preservice teachers hold about buoyancy using an instructional intervention. Presently, there is a gap…

Combined three-dimensional, haptic-enabled, virtual reality (3D HE VR) systems allow students to actively engage and explore various science concepts by leveraging user-friendly and immersive interfaces. Successful implementation of these learning tools in science classrooms hinges upon teachers' perceptions of the technology's potential as a…

University laboratory science courses are typically designed to prepare science majors or those who are pursuing health related careers. These courses often do not provide the experiences necessary to improve elementary preservice teacher science teaching efficacy or attitudes and beliefs toward science. This research utilized a university science…

Effective professional development programs for science teachers provide opportunities for active learning and teacher self-reflection on beliefs about science teaching, learning, and practice. One model that fosters active learning and promotes reflection is collaborative curriculum development, in which teachers work together with university…

Research Goes to School (RGS) is a professional development program that focuses on high school teachers of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. This collective case study examines RGS participants and their use of project-based learning (PBL) as they implemented curricular units that they developed at the RGS summer…

"A Framework for K-12 Science Education," the foundation for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), identifies scientific explanation as one of the eight practices "essential for learning science" (National Research Council, 2012, p. 41). In order to design professional development so teachers can implement these new…

Representations are an effective tool that chemistry teachers choose to use in their classes to help their students understand abstract concepts. According to the model of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), a teacher's knowledge of representations is part his/her PCK, which is shaped specifically by his/her orientation towards science teaching.…

Although elementary school may be a prime stage for building environmental literacy, elementary school teachers face significant barriers to including it in their instruction. Several studies have identified teachers' limited ecological science content knowledge and heavy emphasis on state standards and testing as common constraints to…

This study assessed the quality of preservice primary teachers' written arguments in a socioscientific argumentation task. Five Australian preservice primary teachers took part in a science content course incorporating explicit argumentation instruction, and numerous opportunities to engage in argumentation. The quality of their written arguments…

Recent efforts to reform science education have strongly emphasized the understanding of the nature of science (NOS) as important to achieving broader scientific literacy. Despite the realization that students' understanding of NOS is important, there is a gap between research and practice. In order to teach NOS effectively in pre-college or…

Though inquiry-based teaching has long been touted as an effective pedagogy, its application by elementary classroom teachers has been problematic. Two case studies were used to investigate effective professional learning experiences for teachers and the concomitant development of scientific proficiency in children. Both case studies used a newly…