The inadequacy of experimental activities (or lack of equipment) in science courses in rural parts of Turkey negatively effects students' acquisition of scientific thinking and inquiry skills. The fact that success rates are notably low in international assessments demonstrates the necessity to adopt "different" approaches apart from the…

Electrochemical water oxidation is a major focus of solar energy conversion efforts. A new laboratory experiment has been developed that utilizes real-time, hands-on research to discover catalysts for solar energy conversion. The HARPOON, or Heterogeneous Anodes Rapidly Perused for Oxygen Overpotential Neutralization, experiment allows an array of…

Problem Statement: Research studies indicate that teachers with negative attitudes toward science tend to use didactic approaches rather than approaches based on students' active participation. However, the reviews of the national academic literature in Turkey located a few research studies on the relationship between playful science experiences…

Late in the winter of 2010, teachers across Massachusetts received invitations to apply for six- to eight-week Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in which middle or high school teachers in STEM subjects would work alongside scientists and their graduate students as they sought to solve real-world problems. This country-wide effort was funded…

Presents an exercise which was designed to help students read material and follow directions more appropriately when performing laboratory activities. Provides a list of materials, instructions, comments, vocabulary words, and a diagrammatical sketch of an insect. (RT)

Examines features of science experiments that make them interesting to middle school students (n=59 seventh graders). Compared a model of interest in learning with the reasons students gave for liking experiments. Latent partition analysis was used to derive an empirical model from characteristics of interesting science experiments. (PR)