Scientific modeling is a core practice of scientific inquiry. Students' engagement in modeling can be enhanced by attending to epistemic criteria, which in science are standards used to evaluate the validity and accuracy of scientific models. While prior research has focused on students' development and use of epistemic criteria in scientific…

Energy is a central concept across the sciences and an important goal of science education is to support all students so that they develop a full understanding of the energy concept. However, given the abstract and complex nature of the energy concept, only a few students develop an understanding so that they can use energy ideas to make sense of…

The constructivist paradigm opens abundant opportunities for effective knowledge construction in which student build knowledge and continually evaluated and improved their knowledge. The teaching mode under constructivist pedagogy redefines the role of students and the teachers and their interrelationships by creating a nurturing environment. By…

Recent calls for reform in K-12 science education and the National Academy of Engineering's Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century emphasize improving science teaching, students' engagement, and learning. In this study, we designed and implemented a curriculum unit for sixth-grade students (i = 1305). The curriculum unit integrated…

Although widely touted as important, there is little evidence regarding the influence of teaching experience on elementary teachers' science subject matter knowledge (SMK). To better understand this phenomenon, we administered an assessment of science topics taught in the fifth and sixth grades to 169 preservice teachers, 231 fifth-grade teachers,…