Groundwater is a critical component of the global water cycle and standards-based topic within science education. However, students articulate an array of ideas about groundwater systems, including their natural and human elements. One way to support students' learning about groundwater systems is through the use of data-driven, computer-based…

Science classes should support students' development of scientific argumentation. While previous studies have analyzed argumentative texts, they have overlooked the ways in which other types of representations, including images, affect the production of such texts. In addition, studies into the use of visual images in science education have…

This article presents the design and implementation of a study and research path for teacher education (SRP-TE) based on the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic. The goal is to analyze this teacher education proposal for inclusive statistics education aiming to overcome constraints derived from the phenomenon of the transparency of data…

Introductory undergraduate courses present an opportunity to use disciplinary concepts in solving authentic problems. Making complex natural systems accessible to students through computer-based models allows them to practice making evidence-based predictions and communicate understanding. Despite the importance of modelling tools in formal…

Hydrogen bonds are very important chemical structures that are responsible for many unique and important properties of solvents, such as the solvation power of water. These distinctive features are directly related to the stabilization energy conferred by hydrogen bonds to the solvent. Thus, the characterization of hydrogen bond energetics has…

Each year our physical science class for pre-service elementary teachers launches water-powered rockets based on the activity from NASA. We analyze the rocket flight using data from frame-by-frame video analysis of the launches. Before developing the methods presented in this paper, we noticed our students were mired in calculation details while…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to enhance and complement teaching about resource system feedbacks and environmental modelling. Students were given an interactive exercise based on a research model (ForeseerTM), developed by an inter-disciplinary research team, that explores the interconnectivity of water, energy and land resources. Two…

This paper examines how learning outcomes from playing serious games can be enhanced by including scripted collaboration in the game play. We compared the quality of advisory reports, that students in the domain of water management had to draw up for an authentic case problem, both before and after collaborating on the problem with (virtual) peer…

A team of staff at the University of Western Sydney (UWS) were involved in developing a multimedia package, called Sustainable Water Use in Agriculture (SWAG), to assist the first and second year students to learn about the use, management and conservation of water in agriculture. A range of media techniques including text, sound, diagrams,…

Research has shown that video games can be good for learning, particularly for STEM topics. However, in order for games to be scalable and sustainable, associated research must move beyond considerations of efficacy towards theories that account for classroom ecologies of students and teachers. This study asks how a digital game called "Citizen…

The design and use of a simple computer model which simulates a hillslope hydrology is described in a teaching context. The model shows a relatively complex environmental system can be constructed on the basis of a simple but realistic theory, thus allowing students to simulate the hydrological response of real hillslopes. (Author/TRS)

Describes the development and evaluation of an interactive videodisc designed for Open University students in a physics course that explores the physical properties of water. The user interface is discussed; software is described; videodisc production is explained; and results of an evaluation of student attitudes from questionnaire responses is…

The Water and Molecular Networks (WAMNet) Project uses graduate student written Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) computer simulations of the molecular structure of water to assist high school students learn about the nature of water. This study examined: (1) preconceptions concerning the molecular structure of water common among high…

This study reports the efforts of the Water and Molecular Networks Project (WAMNet), a program in which high school chemistry students use computer simulations developed at Boston University (Massachusetts) to model the three-dimensional structure of molecules and the hydrogen bond network that holds water molecules together. This case study…

This kit includes a variety of instructional materials designed to teach language arts, science, mathematics and social studies while integrating soil and water conservation concepts into the intermediate-level classroom. The activities included in the student study manual are intended to be used to: (1) introduce a topic prior to using the…