Elementary teachers are navigating a curriculum landscape in which engineering activities now exist alongside science. Teacher education should prepare future elementary teachers to be critical curators of curriculum resources, which includes appraising the extent to which engineering and science activities authentically reflect those fields. To…

It is becoming increasingly important for students to go beyond engaging in design by reflecting upon the nature of engineering (NOE) and wrestling with questions such as, "What do engineers do?" and "What is engineering?" This article describes an activity in which middle school students are asked to create a product to help a…

The classical physics treatment of "Electromagnetic Induction" is based on Faraday's Law and Lorentz Force. This paper presents an alternative approach, based on Wilhelm Weber´s Fundamental Force Law of Electrodynamics. It covers mutual induction, self-induction, parallel and anti-parallel currents, and currents in the same and opposite…

Science curriculum and pedagogy offer ideal avenues for teaching young people the critical thinking skills they need to live in a post-truth world. Drawing on the theory of epistemic cognition, we present a selection of research-based pedagogies that have been shown to be effective in developing school students' understanding of knowledge and how…

In this work we present a simple and low-cost setup to illustrate the dependence of the behaviour of a standing wave in a guitar string with the initial conditions. To do so, we impose two kinds of initial conditions; in the first instance, the initial shape of the string is varied. Secondly, different nodes are imposed on the string. This…

The concept of reactance in AC electrical circuits is often non-intuitive and difficult for students to grasp. In order to address this lack of conceptual understanding, classroom exercises compare the predicted resistance of a power tool, based on electrical specifications, to measured resistance. Once students discover that measured resistance…

This paper presents one way of demonstrating the Principle of Equivalence in the classroom. Teaching the Principle of Equivalence involves someone experiencing acceleration through empty space, juxtaposed with the daily encounter with gravity. This classroom activity is demonstrated with a water-filled bottle containing glass marbles and…

Examples of equilibrium are evident everywhere and the equilibrium rule provides a reasoned way to view all things, whether in static (balancing rocks, steel beams in building construction) or dynamic (airplanes, bowling balls) equilibrium. Interestingly, the equilibrium rule applies not just to objects at rest but whenever any object or system of…

This study examined the extent to which the instructional practices of science teachers in Barbados are congruent with best practices for teaching for scientific literacy. Additionally, through observation of practice, it sought to determine the teachers' demonstrated role in the classroom, their demonstration of learning through discourse,…

This study aimed to examine the development of pre-service science teachers' views of the targeted nature of science (NOS) aspects, which are considered more difficult to develop than other aspects. This study was grounded by conceptual change and experiential learning theory. A multiple comparative case study approach was used to explore…

In the science education research field there is a large body of literature on the "nature of science" (NOS). NOS captures issues about what characterizes the research process as well as the scientific knowledge. Here we, in line with a broad body of literature, use a wide definition of NOS including also e.g. socio-cultural aspects. It…

Molecular model kits have been used in chemistry classrooms for decades but have seen very little recent innovation. Using 3D printing, three sets of physical models were created for a first semester, introductory chemistry course. Students manipulated these interactive models during class activities as a supplement to existing teaching tools for…

A hands-on game based upon principles of oil accumulation and drilling was highly effective at generating enthusiasm toward the geosciences in urban youth from underrepresented minority groups in Newark, NJ. Participating 9th-grade high school students showed little interest in the geosciences prior to participating in the oil game, even if they…

Educators have found that kinesthetic involvement in an experiment or demonstration can engage students in a powerful way. With that as our goal, we developed three activities that allow students to connect with and quantitatively explore key physics principles from mechanics with three fun physical challenges. By presenting these activities as…

There exists bias among students that learning organic chemistry topics requires rote learning. In this paper, we address such bias through an organic chemistry activity designed to promote argumentation. We investigated how pre-service science teachers engage in an argumentation about conformational analysis. Analysis of the outcomes concentrated…