A robust knowledge of physics entails deeply understanding electricity concepts such as conductivity and resistance. Understanding how circuits work is also critical for ensuring the safe use of electrical technology such as car batteries and downed powerlines. Curricular materials covering these content ideas are readily available for teachers.…

Measuring teachers' skills to carry out the complex tasks required in teaching is an important means of evaluating the effectiveness of teacher education but remains a challenging activity to conduct in practice. It is necessary to optimise approaches for usability and effectiveness along a continuum from low-effort and low-authenticity measures…

Two volunteer BEd student teachers in their fourth year of a BEd degree at a metropolitan university in the Western Cape of South Africa designed and taught lessons to two classes of the same age and ability in grade 7 (ages 12-13), using drama role-plays (intervention) and more conventional non-drama methods (control). Lessons were observed and…

Decision-making in socioscientific issues (SSI) constitutes a real challenge for both biology teachers and learners. The assessment of students' performances in SSIs constitutes a problem, especially for biology teachers. The study at hand was conducted in Germany and uses a qualitative approach following the research procedures of grounded theory…

Computers, laptops, interactive whiteboards, and iPads make regular appearances in our daily lessons, but are they being used to their fullest potential? In an effort to use technology with students in a meaningful way, the authors incorporated a free app and online graphing resource into a second-grade lesson on the characteristics of a lake…

This study used video vignettes of historical episodes from documentary films as a context and instructional tool to promote pre-service science teachers' (PSTs) conceptions of the nature of science (NOS). The participants received explicit-reflective NOS instruction, and were introduced to techniques to be able to use scenes from documentary…

Vocabulary knowledge is vital for students' success in school and beyond. However, students with disabilities and others who consistently score below their peers on various measures of vocabulary knowledge have difficulties in secondary-level content area courses. Because many students with disabilities are now educated primarily in general…

Vocabulary knowledge is vital for students' success in school and beyond. However, students with disabilities and others who consistently score below their peers on various measures of vocabulary knowledge have difficulties in secondary-level content area courses. Because many students with disabilities are now educated primarily in general…

Most students enter their first university physics course with a system of beliefs and intuitions which are often inconsistent with the Newtonian frame of reference. This article presents an experiment of collaborative learning aiming at helping first-year students in an engineering programme to transition from their naïve intuition about dynamics…

Computer-based learning tools include design features to enhance learning but learners may not always perceive the existence of these features and use them in desirable ways. There might be a gap between what the tool features are designed to offer (intended affordance) and what they are actually used (actual affordance). This study thus aims at…

A significant amount of research regarding Hip-Hop Based Education (HHBE) fails to provide insight on how to incorporate elements of Hip-Hop into daily teaching practices; rather Hip-Hop based educators focus mainly on incorporating Hip-Hop culture into curricula. This study explores the benefits of using two specific Hip-Hop pedagogical practices…

Research has demonstrated that many students and some teachers do not consistently apply the conservation of energy principle when analyzing mechanical scenarios. In observing elementary and secondary teachers engaged in learning activities that require tracking and conserving energy, we find that challenges to energy conservation often arise in…

The biochemistry course at Stanford Medical School has been redesigned to incorporate online lectures. The Stanford instructors provide short online presentations then use class time for interactive discussions of clinical vignettes to highlight the biochemical basis of various diseases. Contemporary video capture equipment makes video lectures…