Estimating astronomical scales requires multiple complex mental processes, such as spatial thinking and interpreting large numbers. As such, it is a nontrivial question how these estimates can be most efficiently assessed. There is reason to believe that results from previous studies probing astronomical scale estimates are possibly susceptible to…

To remain competitive in an innovative world, American classrooms are promoting careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by utilizing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students are engaged in inquiry by applying scientific practices like argumentation. However, science teachers are finding it difficult to…

This study explores science teachers' questions encouraging students to see and speak about natural phenomena in novel ways. In particular, the teachers' challenging questions that may be instrumental in persuading students to see and talk about everyday events differently were qualitatively examined. The participants were 22 science teachers.…

This study analyzed Bahraini primary school science textbooks and workbooks from grades 1 to 6 in terms of their coverage of the five essential features of scientific inquiry. These features include the following: feature 1, engaging learners in scientifically oriented questions; feature 2, making learners give priority to evidence in responding…

Questioning is a critical instructional strategy for teachers to support students' knowledge construction in inquiry-oriented science teaching. Existing literature has delineated the characteristics and functions of effective questioning strategies. However, attention has been primarily cast on the format of questioning like open-ended questions…

Chemical thinking has been widely recognized as a core competence for supporting students' problem solving in chemistry education. Disciplinary essential questions and perspectives are two critical aspects of chemical thinking. This study connects essential questions with such perspectives to develop a new framework for restructuring chemical…

This study aimed to explore how proficient science teachers facilitate sensemaking moments in the classroom. Specifically, the study sought to describe how science teachers facilitate sensemaking during lesson discussions, exploring the factors that influence their facilitation, and developing a model that will guide proficient science teachers in…

Question generation is theorized to support comprehension, self-regulation, and achievement, yet the empirical base for whether and how student-generated questions are associated with comprehension monitoring and whether they predict performance remain open questions. To address these, we investigated the questions undergraduate students in an…

This dissertation explores the implementation of classical education in a non-classical charter high school, with a focus on science education using classical methodologies. Employing techniques like copy work, history-based science teaching (HBST), the Socratic method, and the Progymnastmata, astronomy, and chemistry were taught. To identify…

In the landscape of U.S. education, the widespread adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) offers a unique vantage point for researchers to better understand teacher-, school- and classroom-level factors that advance reform initiatives in science classrooms. Addressing a gap in current knowledge, our study probes how secondary…

The release of NGSS in 2013 brought forth uncertainty among K-12 educators on how to translate these standards into practical science lessons (Harris et al., 2017). One important instructional change that teachers still need assistance with is supporting sensemaking. To guide students in the process of sensemaking, teachers must ask questions that…

With the critical nature of socio-ecological challenges, the need to empower young people to generatively grapple with these science-related issues is crucial for developing their agentic citizenship. This paper reports on a primary science project that adopted a Socratic Seminar pedagogical strategy to enable student voice and collaborative…

This study explores teachers' use of questioning during collaborative science exploratory activities. We classified a total of 755 questions across 14 preschool science lessons implemented by four teachers by type (open- or closed-ended) and content (science or non-science related) while also recording the intended recipient. Results revealed…

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to examine the impact of the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) on student engagement in the CHEM 100 course at Rider University. The action research study was conducted during the fall semester of 2022 with seven participants. The QFT protocol was taught separately from classroom instruction.…

How do teachers elicit and sustain students' interest and engagement in science lessons? This paper answers this question in the context of Bhutan, where students' performance in science is low compared to other subjects, and where falling levels of interest in science are a concern. Like other countries in the Global South, a large proportion of…