Many teachers have a level of discomfort with planning inquiry-based science lessons for students with complex needs. Science instruction typically includes teaching discrete skills with a focus on vocabulary acquisition (Knight et al., 2020). Because science is universal and thus important for all learners, many states have adopted the Next…

This qualitative action research study examines how middle and high school STEM teachers create and implement lessons that connect concepts to the real-world and develop student metacognition. The researcher collected data through interviews, focus groups, document analysis, and survey questions. Participants from vocational, private, and…

Science process skills play an essential role in science education. The research assessing these skills in school science textbooks is limited. The aim of the current study was to examine the involvement of science process skills in the content of science school textbooks of the last two primary school grades in Greece. A specific analysis…

This study addressed teachers' perceptions of the effect of online teacher professional development programs (OTPDPs) on their professional development. This five-month study focused on four aspects of OTPDPs: (1) Teachers' perceptions on OTPDPs, (2) the impact of OTPDPs on lesson planning, (3) the impact of OTPDPs on STEM teaching, and (4) the…

In secondary science education, students often do not feel engaged with the scientific concepts that are taught, which hinders conceptual learning. This lack of engagement can be overcome by fictional placemaking. Therefore, the purpose of our design-based research is to explore how the creation and use of fictional places lead to meaningful…

The Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) is an educational standard used in the United States. It is also used in Indonesia because it has characteristics similar to Curriculum 2013, which is used today. This standard is adapted in science learning because it is expected to easily measure students' processing skills in a specific theme. Science…

Learn about the Challenge Based Science Learning Project and its larger implications for the fields of Next Generation Science Learning and Open Educational Resources. The project involved 18 middle school teachers and five administrators from three U.S. school districts partnering with instructional coaches and learning sciences researchers from…

"Problem-Based Learning in the Life Science Classroom, K-12" offers a great new way to ignite your creativity. Authors Tom McConnell, Joyce Parker, and Janet Eberhardt show you how to engage students with scenarios that represent real-world science in all its messy, thought-provoking glory. The scenarios prompt K-12 learners to immerse…

This study used the framework of technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) to examine how elementary education preservice teachers integrated technology in science units that they designed after completing courses on science education and technology integration. The findings indicate that technologies included at the end of lessons…

Argumentation has long been promoted as a core scientific practice in which students should engage, yet science classrooms still often omit it. One remedy is to incorporate socioscientific issues (SSIs) in the curricula. SSIs are open-ended and complex, typically subject to multiple perspectives and solutions. These issues, influenced by science…

"Talking Points: Discussion Activities in the Primary Classroom" encourages and supports classroom discussion on a range of topics, enabling children to develop the important life-skill of effective group communication. Children who can explain their own ideas and take account of the points of view and reasons of others are in the process of…

This paper reports on the use of portfolios in a continuing professional development programme to advance teachers' skills in their pedagogy of argumentation. The programme adopted a cyclical process of expert input-teacher practice-sharing practice, in order for professional learning to include reflective analysis of growing accomplishment.…

Primary school teachers generally have to teach several subjects. Their training, however, is often fairly short and it is tempting to force-feed them with everything they need to know to teach these subjects. It is more realistic to accept that a short course cannot do everything. Instead, it would be better to equip these students with skills…

This report contains four learning modules designed to support a range of objectives that include increasing technological literacy, and improving written and verbal communication skills, psychomotor skills, computational skills, geometry, analysis, problem solving, and other critical thinking skills. The activities described in each module…

This book explores what can be accomplished when effective classroom techniques for teaching students to become good thinkers are combined with effective strategies to engage students in thoughtful learning of the regular secondary school science curriculum. The technique of lesson design and instruction that results is called infusing critical…