How do scientists make inferences for something they cannot directly observe? The Black Box approach seems ideal to help students understand how scientists work. Black Boxes are sealed units; their interior is not accessible. The effort to determine their possible content (internal structure) demands successive modifications in hypothesis,…

This paper describes the formation of a circumzenithal arc for the purpose of teaching light and optics. A circumzenithal arc, an optic formation rarely witnessed by people, is formed in this study using a water-filled cylindrical glass illuminated by sunlight. Sunlight refracted at the top and side surfaces of the glass of water is dispersed into…

Teaching about nature of science (NOS) within a science curriculum that is primarily concerned with developing scientific content continues to provide a challenge for teachers. This study of science lessons focuses on whether NOS is being incorporated implicitly or explicitly, and whether epistemic aspects (e.g. models, theories) and social…

At universities where introductory physics labs are taught by graduate student teaching assistants (TAs), there is a need for specialized professional development for those TAs. This paper presents a specific instantiation of a model for lab TA professional development that uses a combination of cognitive apprenticeship and expectancy-value…

The prevailing discourse of quality in early childhood education in Australia and internationally supports the idea that everyone, from families to educators, policymakers, researchers and politicians, wants high-quality early childhood education programs for all young children. This dominance is so pervasive that it becomes difficult to think…

Many students have owned or seen fluids toys in which two immiscible fluids within a closed container can be tilted to generate waves. These types of inexpensive and readily available toys are fun to play with, but they are also useful for provoking student learning about fluid properties or complex fluid behavior, including drop formation and…

A container was placed on top of a piece of white paper, and a pin positioned so that it vertically touched an outside wall of the container. Students were asked to predict the image of the pin when it was observed from the top of the container. Two scenarios of either an empty container or a container completely filled with water were considered…

The purpose of the study was to examine what scientists studying to become teachers know about the nature of science (NOS) before, during and after a course focused on NOS. The 16 scientists had an average of 9.7 years of work experience. The course was structured to teach knowledge about the aspects of NOS, demonstrate effective methods of…

The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of meaning making based instruction regarding angular momentum conservation on the change of two 11th grade students' alternative ideas they have before instruction. Case study model is used in the research. Conceptual test (implemented before the instruction, right after the instruction and fifteen…

We repeated the historical infra-red radiation experiments performed by Melloni, to investigate why, at the end of his life, he came to the conclusion that radiation from light and heat rely on the same basic principle, what has been translated as the so called unitary formalism. In doing so, we profited from a Master thesis on heat radiation and…

The merits of three approaches (explicit, reflective and implicit) to Nature of Science (NOS) teaching and learning in the context of a summer research experience on high school student participants' NOS ideas were explored in this study. The effectiveness of explicit over implicit approaches has been demonstrated in school contexts, but less…

Integrating indigenous knowledge (IK) into school science teaching is one way of maximising the socio-cultural relevance of science education for enhanced learners' performance. The epistemological differences however between the nature of science (NOS) and nature of indigenous knowledge (NOIK) constitute a major challenge for an inclusive…

Unfortunately, for the most part, teachers do not teach the Nature of Science (NOS). Even when teachers have adequate NOS knowledge, their knowledge still does not make its way into practice. While there are various reasons for this happening, this study has isolated other, more typical, constraints to teaching in order to look more closely at the…

Oftentimes physics is portrayed as merely a list of facts that we know about the world around us, when in fact it is a way of knowing about that world. At times physics claims to understand the inner working of objects that cannot be directly observed, such as the core of the planets and Sun, or the structure of an atom. It is important for…

The molecular basis of evolution is an important and challenging concept for students to understand. In a previous article, we provided some of the scientific background necessary to teach this topic. This article features a series of laboratory activities demonstrating that molecular events can alter the genomes of organisms. These activities are…