Citizen science is a rapidly growing emerging field in science and it is gaining importance in education. Therefore, this study was conducted to document the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of biology teachers who participated in a citizen science project involving observation of wild bees and identification of butterflies. In this paper,…

While Ester Aflalo's conclusions for teaching the nature of science seem uncontentious her analysis of degree of religiosity and its relationship to perceptions of the nature of science among Palestinian Muslim and Jewish Israelis fails to take into account complex affiliations to religion such as history, the nature of identity and…

This study investigated how student participation in an authentic scientific investigation may shape underrepresented students' views of science and support students in learning science. The research centered on the instructional approach used in a fifth-grade classroom to engage English language learning students from Latino backgrounds in a…

This article presents the main results of a research examining the didactic transposition of history and philosophy of science in high school level. The adaptation of history of science to this particular level, addressing some aspects of the nature of science aiming at the students' critical engagement, was analyzed by examining both the…

We discuss the categorization of 20 quantum mechanics problems by physics professors and undergraduate students from two honours-level quantum mechanics courses. Professors and students were asked to categorize the problems based upon similarity of solution. We also had individual discussions with professors who categorized the problems. Faculty…

Present large-scale assessments require the use of item formats, such as multiple choice, that can be administered and scored efficiently. This limits competencies that can be measured by these assessments. An alternative approach to large-scale assessments is being investigated that would include the use of complex performance assessments. As…

The "Needs of Seeds" formative assessment probe can be used to find out whether students recognize that seeds have needs both similar to and different from plants and other living organisms (Keeley, Eberle, and Tugel 2007). The probe reveals whether students overgeneralize the needs of seeds by assuming they have the same needs as the adult plants…

The remarkable successes of the physical sciences have been built on highly general quantitative laws, which serve as the basis for understanding an enormous variety of specific physical systems. How far is it possible to construct universal principles in the cognitive sciences, in terms of which specific aspects of perception, memory, or decision…