Background: Physics textbooks are a learning resource for students to acquire knowledge and information. The findings of previous studies on physics textbooks analysis have mostly focused on representations of gender, the nature of science, and scientific literacy. This study, therefore, extends the critical content analysis of physics textbooks…

Potash, an essential raw material of the 18th century, used to be produced from the ashes of plants. Known since antiquity, it was in 1807 that Humphry Davy put an end to the decades-long controversy about its nature as a compound. The technology behind potash production was implemented in Brazil by the Portuguese naturalist Frei Velloso. The…

The topic of chemistry safety was included at the margins of traditional chemistry education in China. In order to understand the concerns of the safety issues based on the new chemistry curriculum in the mainland China secondary school, this study analyzed old and new secondary chemistry curriculum standards via the Natural Language Processing…

In science class, students learn by making and living information, enabling them to make sense of knowledge effectively and permanently and to associate it with daily life. Applied science courses make learning more qualified. While science teaching is carried out in application areas such as laboratories, virtual laboratories are used with the…

As part of the current UK GCSE science curriculum, pupils need to use their understanding of science to answer questions about a series of core experiments. Problem-solving and applying knowledge to new situations is fundamental in enabling students to progress in science; however, many learners struggle to develop these skills. This can lead to…

Across traditional lab-based science subjects, including biological sciences, most learning is discipline-specific and focused on developing scientific skills and knowledge. However, graduate employers are increasingly demanding that employees have additional skills, including the ability to recognise their own strengths and limitations, a skill…

A pilot study, funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, supported 10 secondary schools across England to plan and deliver open-ended investigative practical work within science curriculum time. This enabled all students to experience the benefits of investigative work, rather than just those attending extracurricular STEM enrichment activities.…

Chemistry curricula in part rely on the use of laboratory demonstrations and experiments. The complex nature of this kind of educational activity has been posing challenges from the very early days of teaching chemistry. As chemistry is an experimental science, one possible approach to make the teaching of this subject more efficient is to use…

Laboratory experimentation providing students with hands-on experiences can greatly enhance the teaching and learning of physics. However, traditional hands-on laboratories are very expensive, limiting the possibilities for practical activities. In addition, limited time for laboratory practices prevents teachers and students from conducting…

The purpose of the study reported on here was to investigate the role of partnerships in helping in-service teachers overcome the difficulties associated with performing practical work prescribed in the Life Sciences Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), an educational policy intended to transform the South African school curriculum…

Reform of the Scottish science curriculum for Higher Chemistry gave students the opportunity to experiment with essential oils and fragrances. With the support of a Royal Society Partnership Grant, the students learnt how to isolate and identify compounds in essential oils using microscale steam distillation and thin-layer chromatography. The…

The term 'experiment' is used in different ways to mean different things in school science. This study examines the meanings of 'experiment' and how they have changed in the intended chemistry curriculum (ICC) in China since the early 1950s. A mixed methodology was adopted to analyse the 11 ICC documents from a socio-historical perspective. The…

This study studied the types of peer scaffolding presented in scientific experimental activities. The study included 14 university students. For the experimental activity of 'determining temperature changes using the meridian altitude of the sun,' information regarding experimental behaviors, thinking aloud, discourse, and retrospective interview…

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…

Triadic dialogue, the Initiation, Response, Evaluation sequence typical of teacher /student interactions in classrooms, has long been identified as a barrier to students' access to learning, including science learning. A large body of research on the subject has over the years led to projects and policies aimed at increasing opportunities for…