Educational researchers have been interested in studying teachers' professional identity to understand this dynamic and multifaceted construct within personal and professional processes through different experiences. In this study, we designed a qualitative case study with Cultural--Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to examine physics teachers'…

This paper describes an alternative approach to teaching and learning practices in an undergraduate physics laboratory. The instructor plans and implements the 5E instructional model into the laboratory instruction. The article includes an example of the 5E lesson for the laboratory component of a physics course, which has separate lecture and…

Simulation educational technologies provide a convenient way to augment classroom learning in higher education. The University of Colorado Boulder has created many Physics Education Technology (PhET) computer simulations relevant to concepts in Sciences and Mathematics. There is a notable gap in the literature of simulation-based technologies,…

A detailed characteristic of teaching and learning approaches used within the new concept of Learning by Being (LBB) is given. The evolution of educational paradigms from Learning by Doing (LBD) and Learning by Understanding (LBU) toward LBB is analyzed. The basic idea of LBB is students' ownership on cognitive goals, or the assumption of learning…

This study explored relationships between students' attitudes toward science and their preferred versus actual experience of cooperative, constructivist-oriented, or direct instruction. The sample consisted of 1334 Chinese middle school students in physics and chemistry classrooms. Results showed that students report experiencing more direct…

Effective natural science teaching in primary schools helps students to form and change their conceptions about nature and natural processes. This is only possible through communicating about learners' existing misconceptions and the process of transforming them into correct scientific concepts -- using a socio-constructivist learning approach.…

Constructing Direct Current (DC) electric circuits is simple and engaging for primary students, but that is not all there is to learning about electricity. Mandatory learning in the Australian Curriculum: Science (ACARA, 2018) expects Year 6 students to explain some of the processes underlying electric circuits. The abstract nature of key…

This paper explored the teaching experiences of physics teachers in integrating computer simulations in their pedagogy to promote a constructivist learning environment. Its objectives are to determine how physics teachers describe computer simulations based on how they are used, how these are embedded in the teaching-learning process, their impact…

There is a long history of philosophical inquiry into the concept of explanation in science, and this work has some implications for the ways in which science teachers, particularly in the physical sciences (physics and chemistry), explain ideas to students. Recent work has outlined a constructivist approach to developing, delivering, and refining…

This article describes the redesign of a project-based course on soft and biological materials to include computational modeling. Including the construction of computational models in the course is described as a shift from constructivism--a theory that characterizes the development of formal reasoning, to constructionism--a theory that focuses on…

This study dealt with the use of interactive e-learning portal for the enrichment of Grade 8 learners' conceptual understanding in Physics at Luis Palad National High School for the School Year 2014-2015. This study utilized experimental method of research employing the use of post-test control group design. An interactive e-learning portal…

This research aims to investigate the effectiveness of Networked-based Inquiry model on 21st-Century Skills and learning outcomes of physics students in senior high school. This research was a quasi-experimental with non-equivalent control group and 2x3 factorial design. One hundred twenty students participated in this research. Research…

For the last three decades, moderate constructivism has become an increasingly prominent perspective in science education. Researchers have defined characteristics of constructivist-oriented science classrooms, but the implementation of such science teaching in daily classroom practice seems difficult. Against this background, we conducted a…

In this study, the attitudes of physics, chemistry and biology teachers towards constructivist approach were investigated in terms of participants' demographic information (e.g. subject area, professional seniority, education, participation to in-service training or not…). In total, 1958 teachers, who are working at high schools of Turkish…

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…