Soil judging contests are important activities to explore the soil science and its relation to the natural world. They have been held for many years and proved to be very efficient for the student's engagement, field practice, and learning. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the soil science societies worldwide had to adapt this activity to the virtual…

We conducted a needs assessment to identify watershed science training needs for locally elected directors of Nebraska's 23 natural resources districts (NRDs). We interviewed NRD staff and surveyed NRD directors to determine training needs and identify relevant topics and preferred delivery formats. We found that training would be valuable;…

In the last twenty years, citizen science has blossomed as a way to engage a broad range of individuals in doing science. Citizen science projects focus on, but are not limited to, nonscientists participating in the processes of scientific research, with the intended goal of advancing and using scientific knowledge. A rich range of projects extend…

A large scale survey reveals that the performance of the Indian preuniversity students in internationally standardized physics tests is intermediate to the American and the Chinese but reveals a disturbing bimodality. Scientific reasoning skills, however, are similar to both. The bimodality in physics tests corresponds to two different educational…

Reviews of science education consistently suggest that there is (another) crisis. They express concern with the status quo and suggest directions that science education might take. In this context, science educators need to consider the current state of play, the needs of generations in a world to come and the characteristics of future science…

In recent decades, research has shown the challenge posed to teachers by science education in informal contexts such as science museums or centres. In addition, there is consensus that in the case of pupils visiting a science centre, learning improves when the visit is connected to the classroom curriculum, so the teachers' involvement in…

Science education has been pointed out as fact-based and built on reliable knowledge. Nevertheless, there are areas that include other aspects. Sexual education is, according to the Swedish syllabus, such an example and it involves aspects as love, sexuality and relations. These aspects suggest a possible tension between the biological and…

Background: Critical thinking is one of the very highest orders of cognitive abilities and a key competency in higher education. Asking questions is an important component of rich learning experiences, structurally embedded in the operations of critical thinking. Our clear sense is that critical thinking and, within that, critical questioning, is…

Teachers' pedagogical beliefs are thought to play a prominent role in determining teacher behavior. In contrast to other professions, pedagogical beliefs of teachers and students in teacher education are widely influenced by personal experiences gained in school, which has been referred to as "apprenticeship of observation" (Lortie,…

The authors investigated a science course which was divided into two sections, one "student-structured" and one "teacher-structured." Data indicate that the "student-structured" environment enhanced the students' desire to participate in scientific activities, and their belief that they were capable of doing so. (JT)

This article presents data on Big Eight faculty involved with elementary science methods courses regarding their, rank, training, precollege teaching experience, college teaching experience, course load per year, publications, NSTA convention attendance, inservice presentations, and content of their methods courses. Concludes that these professors…

Described in this paper is a research approach used in science and mathematics education at the University of Goteborg (Sweden). The theoretical base of this approach relies on strong interaction between theoretical studies and empirical studies in the science classroom, with close cooperation between researcher and teacher. Within this paper,…

Presented are examples of student differences in thought forms derived from interviews of students entering the natural science line and technology line of the integrated upper secondary schools in Sweden. Methods are outlined for the symbolic description, analysis and interpretation of "thought forms," and ways are described in which dialogue…

There are many approaches to studying the classroom environment. This publication is a collection of papers presented at the fourth Research Seminar and Workshop at the Western Australian Institute of Technology on educational research in the classroom. The four papers contained in this document describe various approaches and perspectives to…