Instructional explanations are sometimes viewed as part of a nonconstructivist, solely teacher-centered learning environment, leading to the perception that they are ineffective or inappropriate for teaching science. Consequently, teacher education programmes seldom focus on preparing teachers to explain scientific concepts effectively.…

Culturally sustaining pedagogies have encouraged scholars to reimagine and rebuild justice-oriented classrooms across context and disciplines and provide opportunities for students to reclaim their ways of knowing and doing in schools. In this study, we seek to contextualize culturally sustaining teaching practices in integrated science and…

This paper explores the relationship between epistemology, sociology, and learning and teaching in physics based on an examination of literature from research in science studies, history and philosophy of science, and physics pedagogic research. It reveals a mismatch between the positivist epistemological foundation which seems to underpin the…

Detailed accounts of teaching can shed light on the nature and prevalence of active learning, yet common approaches reduce teaching to unidimensional descriptors or binary categorizations. In this paper, I use the instructional systems-of-practice framework and the Teaching Dimensions Observation Protocol (TDOP) to advance an approach to thinking…

Many authors stress the importance of basing teaching on students' prior knowledge. To build a bridge between students' everyday knowledge and scientific concepts, the role of metaphors and analogies came into the focus of the science education community during the past two decades. Approaches using metaphor-based teaching strategies often regard…

Classrooms across the United States increasingly find White teachers paired with ethnic minority students, but few of these teachers are prepared for the disparities such cultural integration presents. This is particularly true vis-a-vis science education. While classrooms have diversified, science instruction has not necessarily followed suit.…

Research about the relationship between teachers' scientific epistemological views (SEVs) and science instruction is often an important issue for many science educators. This study, by collecting research data from four Taiwanese science teachers, their students, and classroom observations, was carried out to examine the coherences between…

Presents a theoretical mechanism for learning and a methodological approach for analyzing meaning making in classroom talk and action. Examines the potential of the approach for illuminating learning on a discourse level; i.e., how discourses change and how individuals become participants of new practices. Involves a high-resolution analysis of…

Asserts that the idea of linking science learning to the way of doing science constitutes a permanent feature in innovations in science teaching. A thread which has shown itself to be fruitful, even through its wrong avenues, is being reinforced nowadays by the emerging constructivist model and by the implications of the contemporary philosophy of…

Analyzes the absence of science-technology-society (STS) interactions and its consequences in the basic teaching of science in Spain. Proposes the introduction of STS interactions in physics and chemistry classes in conjunction with the teaching/learning model of science as research. Surveys students 16-18 years of age on their interest in physics…

Case studies were constructed for four prospective teachers who were purposely selected as a result of their scores on the Classroom Learning Environment Survey (CLES) to gain a better understanding of emerging constructivist beliefs and classroom practices. Finds two kinds of beliefs, central beliefs defined as those dictating subsequent teaching…

Describes the extent to which an elementary teacher used teaching principles based on constructivism after attending an inservice program. Use of the new principles was influenced by his views of science and of learning, how he usually planned his teaching, and his confidence in his own understanding of the topic. Describes inservice program based…

Analyzes the so-called mechanical theories of learning that underpin the transmission view of teaching that so permeates education and schooling. Promotes a neuroscientific basis for resolution of the impasse in psychological theories. Implications for the transmission-of-knowledge approach to teaching are addressed. (PR)

Describes the results of an analysis of Spanish high school chemistry textbooks (n=58) published from 1974 to 1998 for their treatment of metallic bonding. Reports on what aspects of metallic bonding are usually taught, how it is taught, and the potential that textbooks have to create meaningful learning in students. Contains 104 references.…

Argues that, by not considering examples drawn from students' everyday lives, a teacher is detracting from science itself. A challenge is made to Conceptual Change Learning Model advocates and users to embrace the idea of conceptual fitting based upon context as well as conceptual change when considering how students learn. (ZWH)