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In Turkey and many other countries, the importance of the interactive whiteboard (IWB) is increasing, and as a result, projects and studies are being conducted regarding the use of the IWB in classrooms. Accordingly, in these countries, many issues are being researched, such as the IWB's contribution to the education process, its use in classroom settings and problems that occur when using the IWB. In this context, the research and analysis of studies regarding the use of the IWB have important implications for educators, researchers and teachers. This study aims to review and analyze studies conducted regarding the use of the IWB in the field of science. Accordingly, as a thematic review of the research was deemed appropriate, extant articles available in the literature were analyzed using a matrix that consisted of general features (type of journal, year and demographic properties) and content features (rationales, aims, research methods, samples, data collections, results and suggestions). According to the findings, it was concluded that the studies regarding the use of IWBs were conducted due to deficiencies in the current literature. However, there are rare studies in which the reasons for the research were associated with the nature of science education. There were also studies that focused on the effects of the IWB on student academic success and learning outcomes. Within this context, it is evident that there is a need for further research concerning the use of IWBs in science education and for studies regarding the effect of IWBs on students' skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context-based chemistry education aims at making connections between real life and the scientific content of chemistry courses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate context-based chemistry studies. In looking for the context-based chemistry studies, the authors entered the keywords 'context-based', 'contextual learning' and 'chemistry education' in well-known databases (i.e. Academic Search Complete, Education Research Complete, ERIC, Springer LINK Contemporary). Further, in case the computer search by key words may have missed a rather substantial part of the important literature in the area, the authors also conducted a hand search of the related journals. To present a detailed thematic review of context-based chemistry studies, a matrix was used to summarize the findings by focusing on insights derived from the related studies. The matrix incorporates the following themes: needs, aims, methodologies, general knowledge claims, and implications for teaching and learning, implications for curriculum development and suggestions for future research. The general knowledge claims investigated in this paper were: (a) positive effects of the context-based chemistry studies; (b) caveats, both are examined in terms of students' attitudes and students' understanding/cognition. Implications were investigated for practice in context- based chemistry studies, for future research in context- based chemistry studies, and for curriculum developers in context- based chemistry studies. Teachers of context-based courses claimed that the application of the context-based learning approach in chemistry education improved students' motivation and interest in the subject. This seems to have generated an increase in the number of the students who wish to continue chemistry education at higher levels. However, despite the fact that the majority of the studies have reported advantages of context-based chemistry studies, some of them have also referred to pitfalls, i.e. dominant structure of out-of-school learning, tough nature of some chemistry topics, and teacher anxiety of lower-ability students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]