Informal science learning is valuable in the development of students' cognitive and affective skills which also influences the development of an interest in science. Successful utilisation of informal learning settings into teaching and learning requires highly qualified teachers. This study explored how engagement in a semester-long course…

The current study investigates the developmental trajectories of "novice elementary teachers' self-efficacy science beliefs", "their science instructional beliefs" and "science knowledge" over the course of participants' teacher preparation and into their first two years of teaching. Study results indicate changes in…

Teachers are key players in supporting the understanding of epistemological and social aspects affecting the development and validation of scientific knowledge, but they often hold inappropriate views of the Nature of Science (NOS), therefore hindering this understanding as an essential part of students' scientific literacy. To tackle this…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of pre-service chemistry teachers' (PCTs') argumentation skills in a laboratory course throughout a semester. A case study design was utilised. A total of six PCTs participated in the study. To investigate the development of PCTs' argumentation skills, the laboratory reports that were in…

The aim of this study is to provide an understanding of context-based inquiry teaching within a humanistic perspective on science education by studying pre-service teachers' beliefs about inquiry and their implementations of inquiry in their context-based teaching sequences. Therefore, five pre-service teachers enrolled in a university…

To understand the longitudinal effect of a technology-enhanced learning (TEL) environment with reflective guidance on sixth-grade students' learning in a photosynthesis unit in Shanghai, we designed a quasi-experimental longitudinal study with a pre-test and three post-tests, complemented by an examination of students' log data. Our findings show…

While helping students develop informed views about nature of scientific inquiry (VNOSI) has been emphasised in science education, little is known regarding students' current VNOSI at a certain grade level and whether there was evidence of higher attainment of VNOSI in students in higher grades as compared to lower grades? The purpose of this…

In this paper, we analyse the conceptual and procedural difficulties that university students of the Primary Education Degree have about respiratory physiology. To carry out this study a questionnaire was designed in order to assess the knowledge of these future teachers before and after studying the first subject of natural sciences of the…

The current K-12 educational system often does not engage students in interdisciplinary learning. To address this need, we developed an integrated STEM + L (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Digital Literacies) afterschool programme in which middle school students took discipline-specific roles (writer, scientist, artist, and engineer)…

At a basic level, it makes sense to involve pre-service teachers in school-based experiences (SBE) as a way of preparing them for the teaching profession. Little is known, however, about how SBEs might prepare pre-service teachers as future teachers of particular learning areas. The purpose of this study was to explore the impacts and highlight…

Gauging the effectiveness of specific teaching strategies remains a major topic of interest in science education. Inquiry teaching among others has been supported by extensive research and recommended by the National Science Education Standards. However, most of the empirical evidence in support was collected in research settings rather than in…

This qualitative, phenomenological study presents the experiences of high-school biology students (n = 233) in an outreach programme titled Students Meet Authentic Science. The core of the programme consists of students' visits to life-science university research laboratories (from here on referred to as labs). The programme was designed according…

Despite the increasing demand for non-formal science learning activities, few studies report on practitioners' perspectives and experiences with designing and implementing such activities worldwide. This paper focuses on their challenges by drawing upon twenty-two interviews with practitioners involved in diverse science learning activities in…

This multiple case study focused on the implementation of a computer-aided design (CAD) simulation to help students engage in engineering design to learn science concepts. Our findings describe three case studies that adopted the same learning design and adapted it to three different populations, settings, and classroom contexts: at the…

This study describes an investigation of a research apprenticeship program that we developed for diverse high-school students often underrepresented in similar programs and in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions. Through the apprenticeship program, students spent 2 weeks in the summer engaged in biofuels-related research…