This article describes the development and deployment of Physics Toolbox Play, a gamified component of the "Android Physics Toolbox Sensor Suite" app, that can introduce young children through adults to fundamental physics principles. The app was used successfully in a variety of contexts, including STEM fairs with primary and secondary…

This article seeks to provide researchers and practitioners in laboratory education, particularly those involved in the curriculum design and implementation of teaching laboratories at university level, with a conceptual framework and a working model for an integrated assessment of learning domains, by attending to a more holistic approach to…

The inclusion of engineering standards in US science education standards is potentially important because of how limited engineering education for K-12 learners is, despite the ubiquity of engineering in students' lives. However, the majority of learners experience science education throughout their compulsory schooling. If improved engineering…

"How does an aircraft fly?" is one of the most frequently asked science questions by young pupils. The lift on airplane wings also makes a great example of the application of the Bernoulli principle while teaching fluid mechanics in introductory physics and engineering courses. The topic is of great interest and is therefore covered in…

Student attitudes about learning science and student ideas about the nature of science were compared at the end of two astronomy courses taught in Fall 2007, a course with a traditional astronomy curriculum and a transformed course, whose traditional astronomy curriculum was supplemented by an embedded curriculum that explicitly addressed the…

Success for many of our students is contingent on the degree to which they identify with and make personal connections to science. Although this may be most true of our nonmajors, it is important for us as science educators to help all our students come to view science in a personally meaningful light. The reading of historical nonfiction can…

By modifying secret writing formulas uncovered from the archives of the East German Ministry of State Security (MfS or Stasi), a novel general chemistry secret writing laboratory was developed. The laboratory combines science and history that highlights several fundamental chemical principles related to the writing. These include catalysis, redox…

A WebQuest is an Internet-based and inquiry-oriented learning activity. The aim of this work is to outline the creation of a WebQuest entitled "Power Generation Plants: Steam and Gas Turbines." This is one of the topics covered in the course "Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer," which is offered in the second year of Mechanical…

At the heart of the vision for the Diploma in Science is a multidisciplinary approach to learning by tackling scientific challenges and questions in applied work-related contexts. This, together with the innovative delivery model offered by a consortia approach, will bridge a significant gap in the provision of science and mathematics education.…

Students are scientifically literate when they can read material about science and intelligently communicate their viewpoints, comments, and critiques, using scientific vocabulary and applying the ideas of the process and nature of science. As part of their normal class, 80 students were asked to find an article on the internet, read it, and then…

Primary research articles discuss aspects of scientific inquiry that are important in understanding the nature of science. Yet, most introductory science courses use textbooks that ignore the scientific process; opportunities for explicit discussion of the nature of science are lost. In Hampshire College's science program, students read current…

One effect of temperature is its influence on solubility, and that effect is used as a common example when teaching Le Chatelier's principle. Attempts to clarify the question of whether the principle holds in the case of the solubility of ionic compounds in water by investigating the literature data in detail. (JN)

Explores how three assistant professors in geology departments assess college students' understanding of the nature of science (NOS). Discusses the usefulness of both qualitative and quantitative data in assessment and the ways in which assessment can impact teaching reforms. (Author/NB)

Describes how some of the Theory of Knowledge (ToK) requirements, which is a central part of the International Baccalaurate (IB) Diploma program, for the natural sciences component can be addressed through case studies from the history of chemistry and related subjects. Provides examples for the 'Ideas and evidence in science' which can be useful…

Elaborates on a framework based on the reconstruction of developments that lead to the formulation of the laws of definite and multiple proportions. Ascertains students' views of these laws and formulates criteria based on the framework for evaluating the treatment of the laws in chemistry textbooks. Provides a rationale for chemistry teachers to…