Teachers who work with early-years children often ask how young children can be encouraged to think about the events, living things, or objects they are investigating and how they can be encouraged to ask appropriate scientific questions. The authors felt that they needed to examine their own practice and that of other teachers in respect to…

In our research within didactics of science, we have been exploring contributions of the socalled cognitive models from contemporary philosophy of science. We have used these philosophical frameworks on different levels. As an outcome, we have formulated a model of didactics of science according to which this discipline adapts and transforms…

Of the thousands of drugs and medicines available for the prevention, treatment, and control of human disease and discomfort, the most widely used is aspirin. The primary reason for aspirin's popularity is its capabilities as a pain reliever, fever reducer, and anti-inflammatory agent. This article explores the historical development of aspirin…

The battle between creationists and evolutionists has waxed and waned in American culture and education for decades. This conflict is evident in the contemporary debate between the proponents of intelligent design and its opponents. This article illuminates the intelligent design movement by describing major proponents' beliefs, goals, and…

In this essay, the author describes to biologists the advantages of organic-first curriculum, on the assumption that few biologists are regular readers of "Journal of Chemistry Education" and therefore are probably unaware of the method for integrating chemistry and biology curricula. The author begins with the assumption that the majority of…

Recent arguments in science education have proposed that school science should pay more attention to teaching the nature of science and its social practices. However, unlike the content of science, for which there is well-established consensus, there would appear to be much less unanimity within the academic community about which…

This essay outlines the potential role for Kieran Egan's (1990) notion of "romantic understanding" in science education. A summary of conventional approaches to science education is followed by a detailed analysis of the implications that romantic understanding may have for the science curriculum, teaching and student learning. In particular the…

This study examined science textbooks over time to better understand the "science content" expectations that the U.S. educational system deems appropriate for 8th and 9th grade science students. The study attempted to answer the questions: (1) What specific science content has been presented via the textbook from 1952 to 2008? (2) Within…

"Science: A portrait of current practice" is part of a series of portraits by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) which builds on the messages of the "Improving Scottish Education" report. This portrait reviews the extent to which current practice in science is successfully promoting the four capacities of Curriculum…

In this paper, we present the results of an exploratory study into the relationship between student self-efficacy and guidance use in a Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE) science curriculum project. We describe findings from a sample of middle school science students on the combined impact on learning of student self-efficacy in scientific…

The proliferation of bioinformatics in modern biology marks a modern revolution in science that promises to influence science education at all levels. This study analyzed secondary school science standards of 49 U.S. states (Iowa has no science framework) and the District of Columbia for content related to bioinformatics. The bioinformatics…

Our project to embed formative student assessments in the Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching curriculum required a close collaboration between curriculum developers at the Curriculum Research & Development Group (CRDG) and assessment developers at the Stanford Educational Assessment Laboratory (SEAL). This was a new endeavor for each…

With an eye towards a potential scientific ethics curriculum, this paper examines four contrasting discourses regarding the ethics of using human subjects in science. The first two represent official statements regarding ethics. These include the U.S.'s National Science Education Standards, that identify ethics with a professional code, and the…

To increase the perceived relevance of pre-clinical science courses to undergraduates, a context-based assessment item was introduced to a genetics course that occurs early within a five-year veterinary science programme. The aim was to make a direct link between genetic concepts and the future clinical profession of the students. In the…

Current research has begun to reveal a link between environmental education and increases in science achievement and understanding (Glynn 2000; Liederman and Hoody, 1998). The researchers in this study of participants in a coastal marine teacher workshop found that increases in environmental topics or lessons in teachers' classrooms post-program…