The first PhD thesis in the field of Chemistry Education at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, was defended in 1992. This can be regarded as the symbolic dawn of Chemistry Education as a scientific discipline in this region. After the official breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, research that had started in the…

Science education research has shown that students use causal reasoning, particularly the model "agent--instrument--object," to explain or predict the outcome of many natural situations. Students' reasoning seems to be based on a small set of few intuitive rules. One of these rules quantitatively correlates the outcome of an experiment…

Drawing on concepts developed in actor-network theory and postphenomenology this article shows how material objects in the science classroom become part of epistemic configurations and thus co-shape science education. An ethnographic study on epistemic objects in science education is the basis for the analysis of two of these objects: experimental…

It has been the hotspot to reconstruct the education course based on the research-based learning in the course reform in many countries in recent years. The new course standard of China insists that the teaching is the interactive process that teachers and students communicate and develop together. In the teaching, the relationship between…

This article describes a data management system (DMS) developed to support a large-scale randomized study of an innovative web-course that was designed to improve substance abuse counselors' knowledge and skills in applying a substance abuse treatment method (i.e., cognitive behavioral therapy; CBT). The randomized trial compared the performance…

The instructional design and the corresponding research on student learning of two virtual laboratories that provide an engineering task situated in an industrial context are described. In this problem-based learning environment, data are generated dynamically based on each student team's distinct choices of reactor parameters and measurements.…

This article reports that a quiet debate is unfolding over proposals to tinker with No Child Left Behind Act's (NCLB) definition of what constitutes "scientifically based research" in education while other ideas for revamping it are taking center stage. Sprinkled through the federal education statute more than 100 times, the references…

Examines the psychology of learning and its application to work in the laboratory. States that the working memory capacity of students is limited; therefore the amount of information they can process needs to be controlled and "recipe following" in the laboratory is perfectly reasonable. (RT)

This article presents a review of the literature on multimedia learning in science. It is no small matter that teachers value using technology, more specifically multimedia, in teaching. But this interest falls far short when it comes to application. Why is it so? This article tries to find the reasons behind this dichotomy. Then, research from…

Reported is a study to investigate the effects of a free-choice program on children's ability to interpret experiments, design simple investigations, and recognize variables that could affect the outcome of observed events. (Author/SA)

This study describes children's learning in a free-choice environment. Teacher controlled instruction is minimized and children participate in a wide variety of science activities with equipment that is selected by each individual student. The study occurs within an elementary school's Science Enrichment Center and the children work on the…

Inquiry training is a powerful teaching model for principals to know and teachers to implement. It is designed to teach students to engage in causal reasoning and to become more fluent and precise in asking questions. Further, inquiry training helps learners build concepts and form and test hypotheses in all curriculum areas. The current emphasis…

A science teacher and her mentor reflect on their participation in the Learning Research Cycle, a professional learning model that bridges research and practice in both university and public school contexts. Teachers do scientific research in scientists' laboratories, then bridge their scientific experiences with the design of new classroom…