Multimedia technologies such as Slowmation can be used to enhance curriculum resources and support innovative teaching methods. This case study research of a rural multi-aged class of primary science students included analyses of classroom captured video and interview data from a term long module on Astronomy. The study explored how students'…

This paper is a qualitative, practice based study describing the use of the Focus-Action-Reflection (FAR) Guide (Harrison & Treagust, 2000) to address the shortcomings of a pedagogical analogical model in Year 10 Science. The aim of this paper is to present my experience of the FAR Guide in relation to an analogical model that gave rise to…

In this article, we describe a project on reasoning about socio-scientific issues (SSIs), involving French and Australian pre-service science teachers engaged in on-line discussion and development of a wiki. In the research, we developed frameworks for looking at the quality of reasoning about "socially acute" sustainability questions.…

Writing for an audience different from teachers motivates students to translate their existing knowledge into audience-appropriate language, in which students explain, elaborate, and integrate their understanding of science concepts using more than just the technical language of the subject. Several studies also have found that students can…

Students engage with science content when they are asked to explain and communicate their knowledge to others. In particular, encouraging students to create various digital media forms such as videos, podcasts, vodcasts, screencasts, digital stories and animations to explain science is usually engaging, especially if they have ownership of the…

This article discusses using students' analysis of media coverage of the March 2011 Japanese earthquake, tsunami and nuclear events to develop their knowledge and understanding of geological concepts and related socio-scientific issues. It draws on news reported at that time, identifies themes in those reports, and suggests how this event can be…

Minecraft is a multiplayer sandbox video game based in a virtual world modeled on the real world. Players are able to build and craft everyday items using blocks. The cubic geometry of Minecraft lends itself to the teaching of various academic subjects. Minecraft also has a functioning ecology, with chemistry and physics aspects interwoven within…

International assessments of student science achievement, and growing evidence of students' waning interest in school science, have ensured that the development of scientific literacy continues to remain an important educational priority (Tytler, 2007). Consequently, researchers and classroom teachers alike have called for innovative approaches to…

Various socioscientific issues (SSIs) are emerging in today's science--and technology--dominant society, e.g. genetically modified organisms and global warming. To achieve the goal of scientific literacy, more and more science educators have devoted their attention to enhancing students' understanding of the multidimensional aspects of SSIs as…

A key principle of inquiry-based science education is that the process of inquiry must include opportunities for the exploration of questions and ideas, as well as reasoning with ideas and evidence. Teaching and learning Science therefore involves teachers managing a discourse that supports inquiry and students engaging in talk that facilitates…

This paper reports on exploratory research that examined how students learn Science with an interactive whiteboard. In this study, the IWB was found to support a range of multimodal representation types including verbal, graphic, tabular, mathematical, pictorial and kinaesthetic. The affordances offered by the technology are discussed in this…

In this article we describe our experiences in developing futures scenarios in two science contexts, space science and atmospheric science/climate change. Futures scenario writing can develop scientific literacy by connecting science learning to students' lifeworlds--past, present and future. They also provide a synthesising mechanism for…

Capturing students' interest in science at the junior levels is crucial to not only improving the uptake of science at senior levels but to promoting science literacy in all students in order to prepare them for a society that is very science and technologically driven. This paper presents nanotechnology as an emerging science that is both factual…

This research described in this paper firstly explored teachers' ideas about scientific literacy using an interview technique. Secondly, using a longitudinal case study approach, it examined how, following their participation in a professional development program, primary teachers presented opportunities during their science lessons for their…

Scientific literacy goals feature strongly in the rhetoric of most forward-looking science curricula. Many science educators believe that a key means of attaining these goals is through the engagement of students in "authentic scientific inquiry". For students to experience such learning it is critical that teachers understand and appreciate what…