Common forms of testing of student understanding of science content can be misleading about their understanding of the nature of scientific thinking. Observational astronomy integrated with related ideas of force and motion is a rich context to explore the correlation between student content knowledge and student understanding of the scientific…

The need for the inclusion of socio-scientific issues (SSI) into science curricula has been generally accepted, but relatively few science teachers have incorporated SSI into their courses. Most science teachers feel that their most important task by far is to teach the principles of science, and any substantive pedagogical changes represent a…

This study examined the differences of the nature of science (NOS) conceptions portrayed by preservice teachers in Korea (N = 42) and the United States (N = 50). We conducted a survey of preservice elementary science teachers' NOS conceptions followed by interviews in both countries to further investigate their viewpoints. The NOS domains of this…

Bringing a greater number of students into science is one of, if not the most fundamental goals of science education for "all", especially for heretofore-neglected groups of society such as women and Aboriginal students. Providing students with opportunities to experience how science really is enacted--i.e., "authentic science"--has been advocated…

There is, in Greece, an ongoing attempt to breach the boundaries established between the different teaching-learning subjects of compulsory education. In this context, we are interested in exploring to what degree the teaching and learning of ideas from the sciences' "internal life" (Hacking, in: Pickering (ed) "Science as practice…

A group of high school students and chaperones boarded a bus for historic Oakland Cemetery located in downtown Atlanta. Students explored the site and made observations of the gravestones, many of which were old and run-down. Upon leaving the cemetery, students--based on their interests--developed various chemistry investigations aimed at…

This paper summarizes the findings from a K-6 professional development program that emphasized scientific inquiry and nature of science within the theme of scientific modeling. During the 2-week summer workshop and follow up school year workshops, the instruction modeled a 5-E learning cycle approach. Pre and posttesting measured teachers' views…

The use of toys in physics teaching is common. This brief review of the physics of toys intends to show that they are not only very useful in lectures and demonstrations in order to motivate students but also very interesting from a scientific point of view. However, since their physics is sometimes too cumbersome, the effect can be the opposite.…

Lifelong science literacy begins with attitudes and interests established early in childhood. The use of trade books (i.e., a literary work intended for sale to the general public) in North American school classrooms to support the development of science literacy invites an examination of the quality of science content disseminated to students. A…

To explore how elementary teachers may differ from secondary teachers in their views about NOS, a professional development experience involving explicit reflective instruction on NOS, discussions about science with scientists, and exposing the teachers to the practices, techniques, and collaborations fundamental to scientific research was…

Graphing predictions is especially important in classes where relationships between variables need to be explored and derived. In this article, the author describes how his students sketch the graphs of their predictions before they begin their investigations on two laboratory activities: Distance Versus Time Cart Race Lab and Resistance; and…

Model theory in contemporary philosophy of science interprets scientific theories as sets of models, and contributes significantly to the understanding of the relation between theories, models, and the real world. The clarification of this relation is fundamental for the understanding of the nature of scientific methods and scientific knowledge…

We present an experimental method to obtain the effective mass of an unloaded oscillating spring. We measure the period "T"("n") of the partial springs that result when hanging "n" of the total "N" coils of a given spring. Data are correlated with the expectation of a simple model for "T"("n") that takes into account the effective mass of the…

A ball placed on the edge of a horizontal table is hit with a pendulum and thrown over the floor. The fall time is measured by recording the sounds produced by the collisions with the pendulum and the floor. If the height of the ball with respect to the floor is known, one can determine the acceleration of gravity.

In the 1930s physicists were confronted by two conflicting values for the charge of the electron as measured with great precision by two different methods. Could it be that there are two kinds of (negative) electrons, differing in charge by a fraction of a percent? The experiments were reconciled when a small systematic error in one of the…