This paper reports on an action research-based professional learning programme (PLP) in which early career teachers volunteered to identify and then research an aspect of their science teaching practice. The PLP was facilitated by academics from the School of Education and the Barbara Hardy Institute at the University of South Australia. The…

In the last 30 years or so, science educators in the Western world have come to recognise the importance of the social and cultural context in which learning occurs (Cobern, 1993, 1994; Hodson, 1993; Leach & Scott, 2003) and have, through such movements as science, technology, society and the environment (Pedretti, 1997; Solomon, 1991; Solomon…

This paper reports on the latest outcomes of an ongoing cross national research project that examines the relationship between teachers' beliefs about the nature of science and the classroom learning environment from a reform-oriented constructivist perspective in junior high school science classrooms in Australia and Taiwan. The focus is on an…

Presents findings from a case study of one fifth grade student's efforts to construct meaning in her science class during a unit on light. Contends that students' efforts to construct meaning may suggest instructional approaches that guide learners to consider and grasp scientific explanations while still valuing their own insights and abilities…

Illustrates how the sophistication of students' discussion on controversial issues can be increased by explicit attention to (1) the defensibility of more than one position, and (2) the relationship between protagonist's interests and the positions adopted. Presents a case study of a teacher using this scheme as he reflects on and modifies his…