Teachers in districts with high rates of poverty and low-achieving schools often lament the lack of resources for instruction. However, when a teacher in a third-grade inner-city classroom began a lesson about natural resources by saying, "We will find out what we know before we start," she used a precious resource--students' ideas.…

This article aims to position students' classroom questioning within the literature surrounding affect and its impact on learning. The article consists of two main sections. First, the act of questioning is discussed in order to highlight how affect shapes the process of questioning, and a four-part genesis to question-asking that we call…

This paper describes the impact of the project-based learning (PBL) approach on learning and teaching physics from the perspective of pre-service elementary school teacher education students and an instructor. This approach promoted meaningful learning (mainly in the scope of projects), higher motivation, and active involvement of students in…

There have been debates about the place of religion in science and in what ways knowledge that is produced through religion can aid in the learning and teaching of science. The discord between science and religion is mainly focused on whose knowledge is better in describing and explaining the reality. Constructivist epistemology seems to give some…

Today more than ever, students want their school experience to be relevant. They live and learn in a media-saturated environment where information abounds, but wisdom is often lacking. Teachers must tie their science curricula to students' real-life experiences: When their students see the utility of scientific thought and reason in helping them…

The theory of constructivism states that learning is non-linear, recursive, continuous, complex and relational--Despite the difficulty of deducing constructivist pedagogy from constructivist theories, there are models and common elements to consider in planning new program. Reflective activities are a common feature of all the programs of…

This study examined the influence of a researcher-conjectured learning trajectory instructional approach toward the enhancement of teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). The study provides a rich description of how a learning trajectory, situated within a "social metacognitive-constructivist" instructional…

In this study, the PTEchLS WebQuest on Gas Laws was evaluated. It was designed for Form Four students with active learning styles. The focus of the evaluation was on the usability and effectiveness of the PTechLS WebQuest. Data were collected from interviews and students' achievement scores. Two teachers and eight students volunteered to…

The challenge of preparing students for the information age has prompted administrators to increase technology in the public schools. Yet despite the increased availability of technology in schools, few teachers are integrating technology for instructional purposes. Preservice teachers must be equipped with adequate content knowledge of technology…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the level of use of selected constructivist instructional practices and level of teacher efficacy in West Virginia secondary science classrooms. The study next sought to determine if a relationship existed between level of use of the constructivist practices and teacher efficacy. In addition the study…

There is gap in passing rates on the standardized science assessment between European American and Hispanic American students. The purpose of this study was to examine student performance in science and the closing of the achievement gap between European American and Hispanic American students based upon receipt of an inquiry or noninquiry…

This study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach to explore randomly assigned treatment and control participants' frequency of inquiry instruction in secondary science classrooms. Eleven treatment participants received professional development (PD) that emphasized a structured approach to inquiry instruction, while 10 control…

To help explain the differences in students' performance on internationally administered science assessments, cross-national, video-based observational studies have been advocated, but none have yet been conducted at the elementary level for science. The USA and Germany are two countries with large formal education systems whose students…

In general, laboratories are exercises with a primary focus on the verification of established laws and principles, or on the discovery of objectively knowable facts. In laboratories, students gather data without comprehending the meaning of their actions. The cognitive demand of laboratory tasks is reduced to a minimal level. To prevent these…

College students often come to the study of evolutionary biology with many misconceptions of how the processes of natural selection and speciation occur. How to relinquish these misconceptions with learners is a question that many educators face in introductory biology courses. Constructivism as a theoretical framework has become an accepted and…