This study compares direct instruction to two constructivist approaches, namely experimentation and problem-based learning, in fifth-grade science learning in Hong Kong. Constructivist instructional approaches, contrary to direct instruction, stress on students' active role in constructing knowledge in learning. Experimentation and problem-based…

This paper, the third in a series on Earth System Science Education, describes various pedagogical ways forward when science teachers are addressing the curriculum implications of the recent interdisciplinary field of Earth System Science (ESS). Parts I and II introduced the key ideas of ESS and the implications for the Australian Curriculum:…

This study investigated whether the Key Concepts in Science Project influenced the pedagogical development of Natural Science teachers. Grounded in social constructivism, emphasising collaborative learning and hands-on interaction, the study employed qualitative methods to collect empirical data. Through photographic evidence, field notes, and…

This study has two aims. The first is to determine the effect of argumentation and epistemologically enriched argumentation on academic achievement. The second is to determine students' opinions about the effect of the integration of argumentation and epistemologically enriched argumentation into the teaching process on academic achievement. In…

Constructing Direct Current (DC) electric circuits is simple and engaging for primary students, but that is not all there is to learning about electricity. Mandatory learning in the Australian Curriculum: Science (ACARA, 2018) expects Year 6 students to explain some of the processes underlying electric circuits. The abstract nature of key…

This study examines the opportunities presented to high school chemistry students through argument driven inquiry (ADI) and how these opportunities led to changes in student understanding. Lesson plans and videos were analyzed to determine how much time students spent arguing from evidence including constructing and argument board, discussing with…

Climate change and the resulting and related environmental and humanitarian outcomes are some of the fundamental challenges of the 21st century. Green chemistry, a relatively recent addition to the chemistry family, aims to reframe chemistry so that chemistry ethically and responsibly attends to its own environmental and human health impacts and…

This article argues that what is most at risk in schooling during a global pandemic, or other similar broad challenges to normal functioning, are those elements that might be considered the less traditional and so the most progressive. After setting out some general background common to the challenge faced by schools and school teachers, this…

The present study investigated how science teachers' beliefs about intelligence and their beliefs about knowing and knowledge acquisition influence their teaching practices. A total of 285 science teachers participated in the present study. Our survey included three parts, namely: epistemological beliefs inventory, implicit theories of…

The implementation of social constructivist approaches to learning science in primary education in Vietnamese culture as an example of Confucian heritage culture remains challenging and problematic. This theoretical paper focuses on the initial phase of a design-based research approach; that is, the description of the design of a formal, written…

Background: Incorporating student voice into the science classroom has the potential to positively impact science teaching and learning. However, students are rarely consulted on school and classroom matters. This literature review examines the effects of including student voice in the science classroom. Purpose: The purpose of this literature…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between constructivist learning environment and students'motivation to learn science by testing whether students' self-efficacy in learning science, intrinsically and extrinsically motivated science learning increase and students' anxiety about science assessment decreases when more…

The aim of this research is to determine the effect of the different teaching methods, on seventh-grade students' academic achievement and scientific attitudes. The research was carried out using quasi-experimental methods. The research sample consisted of 84 seventh grade students studying in three different classes. One of these classes an…

After providing some glimpses of his private life, Peter Fensham, a leading figure of the prestigious Faculty of Education, Monash University (and now emeritus professor at Queensland University, Brisbane, Australia), gives some suggestions about the conditions that help students to learn meaningfully. He began his career in the field of physical…

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…