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The aim of this study is to examine teaching environments that prepared and performed by pre-service science teachers in order to determine characteristics of these environments and conformity of these environments with referred to argument driven inquiry. In this context, micro teaching practices performed by the participants were observed and recorded for 10 weeks. Data obtained from 31 followed groups were examined with content analysis. According to results of the analysis, it can be said that all of the groups defined the concepts and partially made statements to reveal relationships between the concepts, while evaluation between concepts could rarely be made by means of activities that allow reaching a common judgment. Considering the teaching environments referred to argument driven inquiry, it can be suggested that revealing the relationships between concepts and performing the evaluation process is more appropriate than making definitions of the concepts. Also it was found that throughout univocal-descriptive dialogues often took place in practices. In addition, it was found that triadic dialogues which based on initiate-respond-evaluate/feedback [IRE/IRF] often were used during practice, pre-service teachers finished the chain at that point not asking follow-up questions for eliciting in-depth knowledge.

The purpose of this study was, in line with the views of the students & teacher, to examine Environmental Education Modular Curriculum (EEMC) developed to give environmental education with a specific content. In the study, the case study method was used. The research sample was determined with the purposeful sampling method & made up of 23 7th grade students (12 male & 11 female) attending a secondary school in the city of Gümüshane. During the application of EEMC in 11 weeks, the data were collected with Semi-Structured Interviews (SSI), Environmental Activities Evaluation Questionnaire (EAEQ), Environmental Education Self-evaluation Form (EESF) & the Constructive Learning Environment Questionnaire (CLEQ). The research data were analyzed with content analysis & frequencies, & the related categories & themes were formed. In the study, it was found that EEMC not only included a content which met the students' needs & which allowed them to produce solutions to environmental problems but also had the quality of a dynamic modular curriculum.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of "Environmental Chemistry" elective course via Technology-Embedded Scientific Inquiry (TESI) model on senior science student teachers' (SSSTs) self-perceptions of fluency with innovative technologies (InT) and scientific inquiry abilities. The study was conducted with 117 SSSTs (68 females and 49 males--aged 21-23 years) enrolled in the "Environmental Chemistry" elective course in spring semester of 2011-2012 academic year in a Turkish University. Within a simple (causal) experimental design, Innovative Technology Fluency Survey and the SSSTs' environmental research papers were employed to collect data. The results indicate that the "Environmental Chemistry" elective course via the TESI model improved the SSSTs' self-perceptions of fluency with InT and the scientific inquiry abilities. In light of the results, it is recommended that an undergraduate course for improving the SSSTs' higher-order scientific inquiry abilities and preparing academically papers should be devised and added into the science teacher-training programmes.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of "environmental chemistry" elective course via Technology-Embedded Scientific Inquiry (TESI) model on senior science student teachers' (SSSTs) conceptions of environmental chemistry concepts/issues, attitudes toward chemistry, and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) levels. Within one group pre-test--post-test design, the study was conducted with 117 SSSTs (68 females and 49 males--aged 21-23 years) enrolled in an "environmental chemistry" elective course in the spring semester of 2011-2012 academic-years. Instruments for data collection comprised of Environmental Chemistry Conceptual Understanding Questionnaire, TPACK survey, and Chemistry Attitudes and Experiences Questionnaire. Significant increases in the SSSTs' conceptions of environmental chemistry concepts/issues, attitudes toward chemistry, and TPACK levels are attributed to the SSSTs learning how to use the innovative technologies in the contexts of the "environmental chemistry" elective course and teaching practicum. The study implies that the TESI model may serve a useful purpose in experimental science courses that use the innovative technologies. However, to generalize feasibility of the TESI model, it should be evaluated with SSSTs in diverse learning contexts.

Students' abstract reasoning abilities can differ from one society to another. Students' profiles play significant roles in these differences. The aim of the study is to determine the relationship between middle school students' cognitive development levels and their profiles (age, gender, and science achievement) using the Science Cognitive Development Test (SCDT) in Turkey. The subjects (N = 445) were drawn from 7th and 8th grade students at private and public middle schools in five cities. While significant relationships were not found between students' cognitive developments and their genders and ages, a relationship was found with science achievement.