Gerard Leonard and Kathleen Allen describe a variety of nature experiences as a part of the Montessori elementary tradition, beginning with a warning about the way contemporary life constrains children's experience of nature. Through a lyrical rendering of the nature-based expressions of children, Leonard and Allen look at a variety of approaches…

Last fall I had the good fortune of receiving financial support to shoot a documentary about Michael Faraday. I took the opportunity to learn more about this great experimentalist and to visit the highlights of places in his life. In this paper, I would like to share a list and description of some of the most remarkable places in London suitable…

The integration of Russia into the international common space of research and education accompanied by modernization of the national system of education puts forward new demands to postgraduate education. The processes of integration and modernization increase the importance of learning a foreign language for a future scientist. The article deals…

This study stemmed from concerns among researchers that reform efforts grounded in promoting inquiry as the basis for teaching science have not achieved the desired changes in American science classrooms. Many science teachers assume that they are employing inquiry-based strategies when they use cookbook investigations with highly structured…

In this study, a wiki was integrated into a professional development model that systemically addresses early-career teachers' needs. This study was conducted to examine the impact of wiki-based professional development activities in a scientist-teacher professional learning community and focused on early-career teachers' perceptions of the role of…

Global efforts to prepare young developing minds for solving current and future challenges of climate change have advocated interdisciplinary, issues-based instructional approaches in order to transform traditional models of science education as delivering conceptual facts (UNESCO, 2014). This study is an exploration of the online interactions in…

The historical development of the classical postulates of the second law of Thermodynamics can be traced back to the book by Sadi Carnot, "Reflections on the motive power of fire." While unique in its own right and in some sense revolutionary, the book starts with an analogy between heat engines and waterwheels. Waterwheels were common engines of…

Because undergraduate participation in research is a longstanding and increasingly important aspect of the career path for future scientists, students can benefit from additional resources to introduce them to the culture and process of research. We suggest the adoption of the web resource "Astrobites" as a classroom tool to increase the…

In my previous article on apparatus named after physicists and physics teachers, I discussed five relatively common pieces of apparatus from the 1875-1910 era. Now I will go back to the 18th and early-19th centuries to discuss eponymous apparatus that we are still using in lecture demonstrations. [For Part I, see EJ912907.]

How can educators provide children with a genuine experience of carrying out an extended scientific investigation? And can teachers change the perception of what it means to be a scientist? These were key questions that lay behind "The Human Condition" project, an initiative funded by the Primary Science Teaching Trust to explore a new…

Given the diverse array of media sources available to students today, it stands to reason that some media outlets would be of greater quality than others when communicating particular subjects to students. But what constitutes effectiveness among the many choices in information sourcing might not be easily intuited. For example, previous findings…

As education budgets shrink, art teachers need to find ways to position the study of art closer to mainstream academics by exploring concepts that cut across disciplinary boundaries. Art teachers can challenge students to do serious and thorough research about subject matter partnering with teachers in other areas to select subject matter that is…

There is increasing evidence that action learning is valuable in a higher education setting. This paper goes on to report a personal development programme, based on principles of critical action learning, where the aim is to equip early-career scientists and engineers working in a university setting with the knowledge, skills and confidence to…

We used a mixed-methods study to understand the nature of classroom instruction and the enactments of inquiry with nine teachers after an extensive professional development (PD). The "Summer Ecology Institute for Teachers" focused on science as a process and included mentoring by scientists and science educators. We validated our…

Educators, academics, and social scientists conduct educational research across the globe, producing scientific evidence that can inform teaching practice. How can such research aid teachers in using effective practices in their classrooms? How can teachers ensure that educational research is applicable to the diverse groups of learners in their…