This paper describes one aspect of an ESL teacher's journey, in which her voluntary involvement in a series of science-based professional learning events inspired her to use language-based objectives to develop and teach an integrated unit of work with ESL students. Her willingness to modify her usual pedagogical practice and the inspiration she…

Following on from taking part in the successful "Getting Practical: improving practical work in science across the primary-secondary transition" CPD project, Uplands Community College with Wadhurst and Ticehurst Primary Schools in East Sussex worked together on developing the CPD--focusing on effective practical work across the…

In a contest featuring hands-on projects, college students were required to design a simple crawling worm using planning, self-monitoring and self-evaluation processes to solve contradictive problems. To enhance the efficiency of problem solving, one needs to practice meta-cognition based on an application of related scientific concepts. The…

Hopscotch, basketball, or hide-and-seek? Children have many choices at recess, and while making these choices they must consider and make trade-offs. The way they make these decisions is not that different from the thought processes engineers use when making design trade-offs. Engineers have to make trade-offs because a design that meets all…

As colleges and universities aim for greater diversity in their undergraduate populations, one population researchers consider is first-generation students, or students whose parents do not have a college education. The research reported here addresses first-generation college students' discipline of study (e.g., biology) and its impact on…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the perceptions of Texas public Montessori school principals as instructional leaders in science. Twelve public Montessori school principals were interviewed for this study. Two research questions were used: How do public Montessori principals perceive Texas science standards in public…

Traditional methods used to teach the concept of density that employ solid objects of different masses and volumes can be supplemented by enquiry activities in which students vary the mass-to-volume ratio of the same object to test ideas about density and flotation. A simple substance, Blu-Tack, is an ideal material to use in this case. The…

This article reports on a study of teachers' views on the motivational value of practical work. The findings suggest that what teachers frequently refer to as motivation is, in a psychological sense, better understood in terms of situational interest. The fact that situational interest is unlikely to endure beyond the end of a lesson helps to…

RNA mediated gene interference (RNAi) is now a key tool in eukaryotic cell and molecular biology research. This article describes a five session laboratory practical, spread over a seven day period, to introduce and illustrate the technique. During the exercise, students working in small groups purify PCR products that encode "in vitro"…

Environmentally benign chemistry is an increasingly important topic both in the classroom and the laboratory. In this experiment, students synthesize divanillin from vanillin or diapocynin from apocynin, using horseradish peroxidase and hydrogen peroxide in water. The dimerized products form rapidly at ambient temperature and are isolated by…

As an aid for teaching phase equilibria to undergraduate students of igneous and metamorphic petrology, we have designed a laboratory exercise that allows them to create a phase diagram from data produced by differential scanning calorimetry. By preparing and analyzing samples of naphthalene and phenanthrene, students acquire hands-on insight into…

The Department of Sport Science and Wellness Education (SSWE) and the Athletic Health Care Technical Preparation (Tech Prep) Program (AHCTP) at The University of Akron (UA) are successfully fostering collaboration among a number of different entities (faculty members, allied health professionals, and undergraduate, graduate, and high school…

One key element sometimes missing from middle school science lessons is questioning designed to generate student discourse. The National Science Teachers Association recommends that the curriculum of middle school science programs includes "hands-on, minds-on" (NSTA 2003) inquiry-based science instruction, and according to Clough and Olson,…

We report a comparative study using "knowledge space theory" (KAT) to assess the impact of a hands-on laboratory exercise that used molecular model kits to emphasize the connections between a plane of symmetry, Charity, and isomerism in an introductory organic chemistry course. The experimental design compared three groups of…

An in-depth science inquiry is an ongoing investigation in which children are introduced to materials through hands-on experiences and, with teacher guidance, begin to investigate a question that they can answer through their own actions, observations, and with teacher-assisted research. Qualities that make an experience appropriate to include in…