In this study, high school physics textbooks published by People's Education Press (PEP) and Educational Science Publishing House (ESP) (a total of 6 books) in China were analyzed via a self-developed scale measuring nature of science (NOS) including three first-level indicators of scientific knowledge, scientific process, and scientific…

Although laboratory work is considered a significant factor in helping students develop their science process skills and cultivate alternative knowledge construction, there are still gaps in the selection, integration, and implementation of the basic elements in physics laboratories. In this study, three modified guided discovery and conventional…

This study investigated the effect of explicit nature of science (NOS) instruction and explicit argumentation instruction in socioscientific and scientific contexts, on students' NOS conceptions and their argumentation skills. Undergraduate students enrolled in two sections of a science content course were assigned into two groups: Socioscientific…

Strategic Intervention Material (SIM) is an instructional learner material developed to enhance the academic performance of low-performing students. This study aimed to develop e-SIM and investigate its effect on the student's academic performance and learning motivation in Newton's Laws of Motion. The participants were 40 students from Grade 12…

A persistent problem in engineering-focused science instruction is the "design--science gap," whereby learners focus on building successful engineering products, instead of focusing on the relevant scientific principles. This research explores (a) whether integrating contrasting cases into engineering activities can impact how deeply…

In this study, an analysis of the structure of scientific explanations included in physics textbooks of upper secondary schools in Greece was completed. In scientific explanations for specific phenomena found in the sample textbooks, the "explanandum" is a logical consequence of the "explanans," which in all cases include at…

This paper describes three methods of measuring the coefficient of restitution (CoR) for two different types of ball-on-ball collision. The first collision type (for which two different CoR measurement procedures are described) is a static, hanging steel ball forming part of a Newton's cradle arrangement, which is then hit by its adjacent…

A commercial hollow fiber blood oxygenation laboratory experiment was used to introduce lower level engineering students to mass balances in a two-phase system. Using measured values of concentration and flow rate, students calculated the rate of mass transfer from the gas phase and into the liquid phase, and compared the two values to determine…

This paper reports an experimental study on Form Four (16 year olds) students' conceptions about two acid-base models (Arrhenius & Brønsted-Lowry). An intact class was divided into two groups that were taught different acid-base models. One teacher taught one of the groups the Brønsted-Lowry model while another teacher taught the Arrhenius…

Developing K-12 science teachers' understandings of nature of science (NOS) and scientific inquiry (SI) continues to be a major goal of science education reform. There is consensus among science teacher educators that developing students' NOS and SI understandings is vital to the development of a scientifically literate citizenry. However, two…

This paper explores knowledge and understanding of basic genetics and gene technologies in school students who have been taught to a "science for all" National Curriculum and compares 482 students in 1995 (gene technology was a new and rapidly developing area of science with potential to impact on everyday life; the first cohort of…

As society becomes more technological, the need for scientific literacy grows . Part of scientific literacy is understanding the nature of science, which can be revealed, in part, by learning the historical context of current science concepts. History of science can be taught using scientific inquiry, scientific argumentation, and authentic…

The aim of this study was to design and evaluate an inquiry- and activity-based learning unit for the classroom that uses biological collections to teach key evolutionary concepts and to support the understanding and appreciation of the work of a museum. The unit consisted of three parts that focused on the most important tasks of museums:…

Research on learning about science has revealed that students often hold robust misconceptions about a number of scientific ideas. Digital simulation and dynamic visualization tools have helped to ameliorate these learning challenges by providing scaffolding to understand various aspects of the phenomenon. In this study we hypothesize that…

Argument construction is a valuable ability for explaining scientific phenomena and introducing argumentation skills as part of a curriculum can greatly enhance student understanding by promoting self-reflection on the topic under investigation. This article aims to use argument construction as a technique to support an activity designed to…