This study explored the impact of interactive e-books on the viewing behaviors of children in science demonstrations at museums. To conduct this study, an interactive e-book on a pendulum experiment was developed and integrated into a physical science demonstration at a museum. Two scientific demonstrations were conducted in this study. The first…

This work documents the collaboration between the Physics department of the University of Calabria and some schools of the region in a project devoted to recovering disused instrumentation in school laboratories. The project has been conceived as a workplace experience for the students, i.e. a learning experience in a real work place. In Italy,…

Our investigation focusses on a group of eleven lower-middle-class students from classrooms in which the teachers did most of the talking and students rarely asked any questions. We have examined whether spontaneous discussions among the students in a less structured setting would include questioning, and what kinds of questions they might ask.…

This article develops an emergentist theory of children's agency. To make this claim, it first identifies the following two predicaments that scholars have faced in children's agency research: (1) social ambiguity in distinguishing children's learning from adults' guidance; and (2) causal uncertainty between children's cognitive development and…

In this project, we explore the use of threshold concept theory as a design basis for development of Interactive Virtual Laboratories in thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is a difficult subject for chemical and biological engineering students to master. One reason for the difficulty is the diverse and challenging set of threshold concepts that they…

This paper presents an experimental activity based on the absorption of light colours by pigments. The activity is constructed using a stepwise design and offers an opportunity for students and teachers to compare and generalize the interactions between light and pigment colours. The light colours composing an artificial rainbow produced in the…

Currently, there are a number of educational applications that allow students to reinforce theoretical or numerical concepts through an interactive way. More precisely, in the field of the analytical chemistry, MATLAB has been widely used to write easy-to-implement code, facilitating complex performances and/or tedious calculations. The main…

An innovative first- and second-year laboratory course sequence is described. The goal of the instructional model is to introduce chemistry and biochemistry majors to the process of research participation earlier in their academic training. To achieve that goal, the instructional model incorporates significant hands-on experiences with chemical…

This study examines the process by which a teacher may be able to answer a question asked in the classroom by using a scientific approach and a simple activity. This article examines a discussion of the question "Is space light or dark?" Priority in the discussion has been given to determining students' preconceptions about the interaction of…

Describes an interactive game used in conjunction with traditional laboratory work, group discussions, student presentations, and writing exercises to provide an enjoyable and motivating dimension to a university seminar/lab course in historical geology and paleontology. The game is designed for a university setting but can easily be modified for…

Outlines an adaptive framework for the study of plants and their pollinators in which both partners in the ecological relationship are seen as maximizing fitness through efficient use of the other as a resource. Suggests experimental projects to examine the validity of these assumptions giving an evolutionary emphasis. (Author/CW)