This report presents results from a survey of over 2,000 K-12 science teachers regarding their instruction related to COVID-19. Teachers were surveyed in the spring of 2020 shortly after school buildings closed. In addition, 40 teachers were interviewed. Results are reported separately for elementary, middle, and high school teachers. [This report…

The underrepresentation of women and minorities in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is a major concern for researchers, policymakers, and educators. Many causes of this issue have been identified over the years. However, effective methods for increasing minorities' and women's participation in STEM may still be…

The claim that science education is better served by a conception of science that moves beyond metaphysical pre-suppositions is moot without a plausible candidate for such a post-metaphysical rendering of science. This paper takes Jacob Bronowski's philosophy of science as such a candidate and evaluates both the degree to which it is…

There has been a focus on improving teachers' views of nature of science for decades. The method in which researchers improve views of nature of science, however, varies greatly. This study aimed to improve elementary preservice teachers' views of nature of science and nature of science instruction through a course assignment that required the…

In a brief article published in 1931, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar made public an important astronomical discovery. In his article, the then young Indian astrophysicist introduced what is now known as the "Chandrasekhar limit." This limit establishes the maximum mass of a stellar remnant beyond which the repulsion force between electrons…

This paper reports an undergraduate laboratory experiment to measure heterogeneous liquid/gas reaction kinetics (ozone-oleic acid and ozone-phenothrin) using a flow reactor coupled to an attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectrometer. The experiment is specially designed for an upper-level undergraduate Physical…

An introductory guide to deducing the mechanism of chemical reactions is presented. Following a typical workflow for probing reaction mechanism, the guide introduces a wide range of kinetic and mechanistic tools. In addition to serving as a broad introduction to mechanistic analysis for students and researchers, the guide has also been used by…

In this article Campbell and Neilson discuss several design strategies developed or adopted that were found particularly helpful when sequencing a unit that focused on learning about motion and acceleration. Students were expected to predict, observe, and explain why a ball traveled down one ramp faster than the other. Before engaging students,…

Examples of equilibrium are evident everywhere and the equilibrium rule provides a reasoned way to view all things, whether in static (balancing rocks, steel beams in building construction) or dynamic (airplanes, bowling balls) equilibrium. Interestingly, the equilibrium rule applies not just to objects at rest but whenever any object or system of…

The enthalpy of vaporization (?H[subscript vap]) of salt solutions is not easily measured, as a certain quantity of pure water has to be evaporated from a solution, at constant composition, and at a fixed temperature and pressure; then the corresponding heat input has to be measured. However, a simple bubble column evaporator (BCE) was used as a…

From the earliest days of their lives, children are exposed to all kinds of sound, from soft, comforting voices to the frightening rumble of thunder. Consequently, children develop their own naïve explanations largely based upon their experiences with phenomena encountered every day. When new information does not support existing conceptions,…

This paper provides a detailed analysis of the inclusion of aspects of nature of science (NOS) in the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS). In this new standards document, NOS elements in eight categories are discussed in Appendix H along with illustrative statements (called exemplars). Many, but not all, of these exemplars are…

The eight science and engineering practices outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are key to student science learning. However, there is limited guidance for teachers on what these practices should "look like" in instruction across different grade ranges and topic areas. This paper describes the development of two…

The purpose of this study is to develop a history of science activity which can be used to improve middle school students' nature of science views. The activity was designed and implemented based on an explicit-reflective approach within the context of the circulatory system. The activity was designed for grade 6 students and implemented during…

Too many students reject the theory of evolution because they view it as incompatible with their religious beliefs. Some have argued that abandoning religious belief is the only way to help religious individuals accept evolution. Conversely, our data support that highlighting faith/evolution compatibility is an effective means to increase student…