One tool for enhancing students' work with data in the science classroom is the measure line. As a coteacher and curriculum developer for The Inquiry Project, the author has seen how measure lines--a number line in which the numbers refer to units of measure--help students not only represent data but also analyze it in ways that generate…

This article gives a brief history of fire-walking and then deals with the physics behind fire-walking. The author has performed approximately 50 fire-walks, took the data for the world's hottest fire-walk and was, at one time, a world record holder for the longest fire-walk (www.dwilley.com/HDATLTW/Record_Making_Firewalks.html). He currently…

The topics of solution thermodynamics, activity coefficients, and complex formation are introduced through computational exercises and sample applications. The presentation is designed to be accessible to freshmen in a chemical engineering computations course. The MOSCED model is simplified to explain complex formation in terms of hydrogen…

This commentary disagrees with a recent submission (Cheung, D. "J. Chem. Educ. 2009, 86," 514-518) questioning the value of the Le Chtelier principle (LCP). Cheung points out that the LCP fails to predict the proper change in a small set of chemical equilibria. This commentary argues that the LCP has great qualitative utility in correctly…

An approach is presented that utilizes a spreadsheet to allow students to explore different means of calculating and visualizing how the charge on peptides and proteins varies as a function of pH. In particular, the concept of isoelectric point is developed to allow students to compare the results of their spreadsheet calculations with those of…

Before the advent of microcomputer-based labware (MBL), "time-of-flight" measurements for the speed of a transverse pulse on a string required elegant apparatus. This paper describes how to use an off-the-shelf MBL force sensor and a computer to perform the measurement. The data shown in this paper were collected using Vernier Software's wireless…

Over the last two decades, science educators and science education researchers have grown increasingly interested in utilising insights from the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) to inform their work and research. To date, researchers in science education have focused on two applications: results of sociological studies of science have been…

Several misconceptions abound among college students taking their first general physics course, and to some extent pre-engineering physics students, regarding the physics and applications of electric circuits. Analogies used in textbooks, such as those that liken an electric circuit to a piped closed loop of water driven by a water pump, do not…

In November 2009, the largest experiment in history was restarted. Its prime target is the Higgs particle--the last remaining undiscovered piece of our current theory of matter. We present a very simple way to introduce this topic to senior secondary school students, using a comparison with the refractive index of light.

The integrated science education major has been implemented for a decade in China. An investigation was conducted in 2010 to find out students' satisfaction with the programme. Participants included 27 senior students and 25 past students from six normal universities. Results show very low satisfaction. Identified reasons include the fact that the…

The aim of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of the conceptual change approach, explicit reflective approach, and the course book by the Ministry of Education on the views toward the nature of science and conceptual change in the Light unit. Three study groups were selected from several seventh grade classes. Two of the three classes,…

This paper reports on an attempt to investigate Turkish primary school students' interest in science by using their self-generated questions. We investigated students' interest in science by analyzing 1704 self-generated science-related questions. Among them, 826 questions were submitted to a popular science magazine called Science and Children.…

This is a comment on the article "An Essay for Educators: Epistemological Realism Really is Common Sense" written by Cobern and Loving in "Science & Education." The skillful analysis of the two authors concerning the problematic role of scientism in school science is fully appreciated, as is their diagnosis that it is scientism not universal…

This study aims to investigate the effect of a Web-based mixed learning approach model on mechatronics education. The model combines different perception methods such as reading, listening, and speaking and practice methods developed in accordance with the vocational background of students enrolled in the course Electromechanical Systems in…

Efforts have been made to enhance teachers' understanding and teaching of NOS and/or SI by immersing teachers into the field and lab work of scientists through intensive summer institutes. Results have been mixed and the samples have been small. This may be due to several factors: implicit strategies to learn and teach about NOS and/or SI…