Although an understanding of nature of science is a core element in scientific literacy, there is considerable evidence that school and university students hold naive conceptions about it. It is argued that, whilst the failure to learn about nature of science arises from its neglect in formal science education, a major reason is the adherence to…

Recently, the nature of science (NOS) has become recognized as an important element within the K-12 science curriculum. Despite differences in the ultimate lists of recommended aspects, a consensus is emerging on what specific NOS elements should be the focus of science instruction and inform textbook writers and curriculum developers. In this…

It has been suggested that Einstein's principle of equivalence (PE) should be introduced at an early stage. This principle leads to the notion of local effective gravity, which in turn defines effective vertical and horizontal directions. Local effective gravity need not coincide with the direction of terrestrial gravity. This paper describes…

At the University of Pittsburgh, the author and his colleagues have been exploring a range of approaches to design challenges for implementation in high school science classrooms. In general, their approach has always involved students working during class time over the course of many weeks. So, their understanding of what works must be…

At a time when scientific and technological competence is vital to the nation's future, the weak performance of U.S. students in science reflects the uneven quality of current science education. Although young children come to school with innate curiosity and intuitive ideas about the world around them, science classes rarely tap this potential.…

Education involves interactions between students and teachers in a societal framework. Teachers can best serve their students and society by making students flexible enough to thrive under uncertain conditions. They should, in a sense, nourish, nurture, provoke, and stimulate pluripotent "educatoblasts."

Gross participation and throughput rates in higher education institutions in South Africa indicate an inequitable and poorly functioning system. This interpretive study argues for an approach that enhances epistemological and ontological access and examines how an intervention that includes an overt approach in dealing with the nature of science,…

Despite a few international comparisons of the evolutionary beliefs of the general public, comparatively less research has focused on science teachers. Cross-cultural studies offer profitable opportunities for exploring the interactions among knowledge and belief variables in regard to evolution in different socio-cultural contexts. We…

One proven strategy to help students make sense of abstract concepts is to sequence instruction so students have exploratory opportunities to investigate science before being introduced to new science explanations (Abraham and Renner 1986; Renner, Abraham, and Birnie 1988). To help physical science teachers make sense of how to effectively…

This study explores the impacts of selected early science experiences in kindergarten (frequency and duration of teachers' teaching of science, availability of sand/water table and science areas, and children's participation in cooking and science equipment activities) on children's science achievement in kindergarten and third grade using data…

This paper is a brief summary of an "open-ended" physics experiment that gave my students a glimpse of what real physics research is like. They found it to be both fun and challenging. The subject of the experiment is the well-known Diet Coke and Mentos reaction. A more detailed description of the experimental results has been published elsewhere.

Chapters in this book include: (1) New e-Learning Environments: e-Merging Networks in the Relational Society (Blanca C. Garcia); (2) Knowledge Building in E-Learning (Xinyu Zhang and Lu Yuhao); (3) E-Learning and Desired Learning Outcomes (Ralph Palliam); (4) Innovative E-Learning Solutions and Environments for Small and Medium Sized Companies…

Although teacher educators have successfully helped K-12 teachers' develop adequate views of NOS, their views have not been transferred to their students. It is evident that K-12 students' understanding of NOS still does not align with the recommendation of the reforms document, indicating that holding an adequate view of NOS is…

This paper introduces a model for using informal science education venues as contexts within which to teach the nature of science. The model was initially developed to enable university education students to teach science in elementary schools so as to be consistent with "National Science Education Standards" (NSES) (1996) and "A Framework for…

In this article we report on the effects of a digital intervention on the development of algebraic expertise of 17-18 year old students in the Netherlands. The question to be answered was whether the intervention would be effective and what factors influenced the outcome. With notions of formative assessment and symbol sense as guiding theoretical…