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Pedagogical content knowledge and reflection are clearly intertwined elements in science teacher education. The development of pedagogical content knowledge mainly depends on the nature of the pedagogical reasoning that preservice teachers make as they decide how to teach specific content in specific contexts. It is clear that preservice teachers must be open-minded, as a lack of open-mindedness makes whole-heartedness difficult and prevents responsibility being fully exercised.

Preservice science teachers are often very unwilling to adopt a constructivist approach and a conceptual change model of instruction. This may be attributable to the interactions among the initial positivistic assumptions of the preservice teachers and the insufficient integration between the university course and the field-based experience. There is a need to constantly challenge teachers' views of teaching, but this cannot necessarily be achieved through teacher preparation programmes.

The article presents a reprint from "Safeguarding America Against Fire" which is related to the paper making industry. A piece of paper with specific signatures and printing may become financial protection against a future property loss. In the matter of Science and mechanical inventions and discoveries, in history China is recorded as far advanced from the rest of the world. In the year 105 A. D., the Emperor of China called upon to discover the manufacturing of a writing material. During research, it was found that by decreasing the inner bark of the mulberry tree to a pulp and treating the pulp by beating it and matting the resulting fibers in sheet form, a good material writing could be prepared, furthermore, it was found that rags were more suitable for paper manufacture in comparison to the inner bark of the mulberry tree. It has always been interesting to track down an industry to the earliest record of its existence. Paper making and insurance have been into existence for hundreds of years. The paper industry employs the product of insurance or financial protection and the insurance companies use stores of papers to keep complete annual records and files.

Microevolutionary mechanisms are taught almost exclusively in our schools, to the detriment of those mechanisms that allow us to understand the larger picture—macroevolution. The results are demonstrable; as a result of the strong emphasis on micro processes in evolution education, students and teachers still have poor understanding of the processes which operate at the macro level, and virtually no understanding at all of the history of life on our planet. Natural selection has become synonymous with the suite of processes we call evolution. This paper makes the case for a paradigm shift in evolution education, so that both perspectives—micro and macro—are given equal weight. Increasingly, issues of bioethics, human origins, cloning, etc., are being cast in a light that requires an understanding of macroevolution. To deny our students access to this debate is to deny the call for universal science literacy. A methodology from professional practice is proposed that could achieve this goal, and discussed in light of its utility, theoretical underpinnings, and historical legacy. A mandate for research is proposed that focuses on learners' understanding of several challenging macroevolutionary concepts, including species, the formation of higher groups, deep time, and hierarchical thinking. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed90:767–783, 2006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the development and field test of an instrument, the Views on Science and Education Questionnaire, designed to measure participants' concepts of the nature of science (NOS) and relevant teaching attitudes. The questionnaire includes 15 questions, each followed by several items representing different philosophical positions. Participants rank each item on a five-point scale. The items were empirically based and described from the learners' perspectives, but the issues and subcategories covered were validated by a panel of experts. The latest version was administered to 302 college students. Combined conceptions and conflicting thoughts about NOS were detected. Furthermore, the instrument achieved a test–retest correlation coefficient of 0.82. The questionnaire is a valid and practical tool that can be used to determine participants' conceptions and attitudes toward teaching NOS. With this instrument, science educators and teachers can conduct comparison studies and relate views of NOS to other measurable educational outcomes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed90:803–819, 2006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purposes of this study were to (a) gain an understanding of the views of inquiry held by faculty members involved in undergraduate science teaching and (b) describe the challenges, constraints, and opportunities that they perceived in designing and teaching inquiry-based laboratories. Participants included 19 college professors, representing both life and physical science disciplines, from (a) 2-year community college, (b) small, private nonprofit liberal arts college, (c) public master's granting university, and (d) public doctoral/research extensive university. We collected data through semistructured interviews and applied an iterative data analysis process. College science faculty members held a “full and open inquiry” view, seeing classroom inquiry as time consuming, unstructured, and student directed. They believed that inquiry was more appropriate for upper level science majors than for introductory or nonscience majors. Although faculty members valued inquiry, they perceived limitations of time, class size, student motivation, and student ability. These limitations, coupled with their view of inquiry, constrained them from implementing inquiry-based laboratories. Our proposed inquiry continuum represents a broader view of inquiry that recognizes the interaction between two dimensions of inquiry: (a) the degree of inquiry and (b) the level of student directedness, and provides for a range of inquiry-based classroom activities. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed90:784–802, 2006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores seventh graders' use of inscriptions in a teacher-designed project-based science unit. To investigate students' learning practices during the 8-month water quality unit, we collected multiple sources of data (e.g., classroom video recordings, student artifacts, and teacher interviews) and employed analytical methods that drew from a naturalistic approach. The findings showed that throughout the unit, provided with the teachers' scaffold and social, conceptual, and material resources, the seventh graders were able to use various inscriptions (e.g., digital pictures, Web pages, and models) to demonstrate meaningful inscriptional practices such as creating and using inscriptions to make arguments, to represent conceptual understandings, and to engage in thoughtful discussions. Inscriptions and associated practices provided students with experiences and understandings about certain ways to organize, transform, and link data or scientific ideas. However, when constructing inscriptions, students did not consider how the inscriptions could serve certain reasoning purposes. In addition, more scaffolds were needed to help students use multiple inscriptions to make a coherent argument. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed90:852–873, 2006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this 2-year study was to investigate Malawian teacher educators' perspectives and dispositions toward teaching about ecological sustainability issues in Malawi, a developing country in sub-Sahara Africa. This study was embedded in a larger theoretical framework of investigating earth systems science through the understanding of nature–knowledge–culture systems from local, place-based perspectives. Specifically, we were interested in learning more about eco-justice issues that are related to environmental degradation in Malawi and the potential role of inquiry-oriented pedagogies in addressing these issues. In a science methods course, the African educators' views on deforestation and teaching about ecological sustainability were explored within the context of the local environment and culture. Teachers participated in inquiry pedagogies designed to promote the sharing of perspectives related to the connections between culture and ecological degradation. Strategies encouraging dialogue and reflection included role-playing, class discussions, curriculum development activities, teaching experiences with children, and field trips to a nature preserve. Data were analyzed from postcolonial and critical pedagogy of place theoretical perspectives to better understand the hybridization of viewpoints influenced by both Western and indigenous science and the political hegemonies that impact sustainable living in Malawi. Findings suggested that the colonial legacy of Malawi continues to impact the ecological sustainability issue of deforestation. Inquiry-oriented pedagogies and connections to indigenous science were embraced by the Malawian educators as a means to involve children in investigation, decision making, and ownership of critical environmental issues. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed90:660–680, 2006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partnerships of teachers with scientists are thought to be important for many aspects of science education reform, but it is not always clear how to make such partnerships productive. Between 1994 and 1997, high school teachers were partnered with scientists, to design yearlong ecological research projects in which the teachers were learning for their own sake, rather than to create new curriculum. In these partnerships the relationships with the scientists took many forms. We found that negotiations around five dimensions seemed particularly important: (1) Whose question was being investigated? (2) Was the focus primarily on data collection or data analysis? (3) Was the research based on the ecologist's area of expertise, or the teachers' interest? (4) Was the focus primarily on the teachers' learning on their students' classroom learning? (5) Was the research intended for an external audience, or primarily for the teachers' own benefit? Three case studies are presented, showing how these dimensions shaped the negotiations of more successful and less successful collaborations. Implications for inquiry-based pedagogy, and cultural issues arising in scientist-teacher collaborations, are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed, 90:734–761, 2006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article announces the first Outstanding Paper of the Year competition of the journal "Science Education." The Outstanding Paper of 1984 Award has been awarded to Glen S. Aikenhead for his paper on "Collective Decision Making in the Social Context of Science." Four Awards of Merit have also been presented to Mary W. Arnaudin and Joel J. Mintzes for their paper "Students' Alternative Conceptions of the Human Circulatory System: A Cross-Age Study."

The article comments on the dilemma of the objective paper-and-pencil assessment within the Piagetian framework in the U.S. Paper-and-pencil measures also lack the flexibility of the clinical method in which a perceptive interviewer can explore the various ways in which a subject interprets his or her environment. Paper-and-pencil instruments attempt to retain various aspects of the clinical interview method. It must be noted that many measures of formal operational reasoning also assess other cognitive capabilities such as field independence.

The article discusses the advantages of the term project type of assignment over term papers in learning science. The purpose and meaning of an individual's educational experience is transmitted through a term project. While educators are becoming increasingly skeptical as to whether or not term papers have value in proportion to the time and energies required of both the undergraduates and the instructors, the level of interaction is compulsion. The sample of knowledge covered by a term project is not great, but apparently that sample will be remembered for a long, long time. The opportunity to think through a problem and find a solution proved to be an intriguing and pleasant experience.

This paper introduces the four research papers in this paper set, which all derive from a European research project, STTIS (Science Teacher Training in an Information Society). The central concern of the project was to study curriculum innovations in science, and to investigate ways in which teachers transform these innovations when putting them into practice. This work led to the construction of appropriate teacher training materials for use when an innovation is being introduced. The paper describes the mutual research strategy agreed upon by the STTIS partners. Both to avoid repetition and to underline the understanding that the partners share about the issues involved in curriculum innovation and related teacher education, the main theoretical background and the review of literature relevant to all four papers is to be found here. Themes and conclusions common to all the papers are highlighted. The paper also outlines the common features of the approach the STTIS partners took toward the construction of teacher training materials. These materials build in concrete results from the research, in forms that provoke discussion and reflection aimed at making teachers more aware of their ideas and behavior, with a view to effecting lasting change.

Research in languages and literacies in science education (LLSE) has developed substantial theoretical and pedagogical insights into how students learn science through language, discourse, and multimodal representations. At the same time, language is central to the functioning of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). On this common basis concerning the role of language, this paper explores how foundational ideas from LLSE studies can inform the use of GenAI in science education. A bibliometric analysis of 412 journal articles from Web of Science provided the initial step to identify major themes and relationships in the LLSE literature. The analysis revealed four clusters of research in LLSE: reading and writing scientific text, science discourse and interaction, multilingual science classroom, and multimodality and representations. Each cluster was further analyzed through close reading of selected articles to identify and connect key constructs to the potential use of GenAI. These constructs include the interactive‐constructive reading model, text genre, reading‐writing integration, dialogic interaction, critical questioning, argumentation, translanguaging, hybridity, thematic pattern, modal affordance, and transduction. From these ideas and connections, the paper recommends several pedagogical principles for science educators to guide the use of GenAI. It concludes that LLSE research offers valuable insights for researchers and teachers to investigate and design the use of GenAI in science education. In turn, the impending use of GenAI also calls for a rethinking of literacy that will shape future research in LLSE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an introduction to and a synthesis of three papers in this issue written by scholars deeply committed to partnering with communities to understand and enact what it means to realize transformational ends in and through science education. Partnering for justice must be a conversation, a work in progress, and a critical examination that leads to intentional and careful forward movement. It is a beautiful effort at flattening power hierarchies so diverse voices and expertise can be interwoven in service of youth and communities who have been invisibilized and marginalized. Committed to realizing new, hope‐filled futures, the three pairs of authors use their experiences and expertise to shed light on the work of partnering using a temporal lens: considerations related to the beginnings, middles, and endings of partnering, each of which requires special intentionality and care. Together the authors share core overlapping tenets with other critical scholars that could be considered a partnering for justice epistemology. This epistemology underscores how importantly different learning through partnering for justice is from traditional notions of academic research. I close the paper by sharing lessons learned from my own 20‐plus years of partnering for justice, using the tenets of partnering for justice epistemology as a lens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on various experiments related to fire kindling. According to the author, the best material for kindling a fire with a bow and drill is Yucca wood, which grows on the plains and foothills of New Mexico and Arizona. In the experiment named kindling fire with a lens, a piece of tissue paper was placed on a table or a window sill, where the sun's rays fall directly on it than a piece of charred cloth or tinder on the paper was laid. Then the lens was moved back and forth a few inches from the tinder, until the sun's rays coming through the lens was focused on the tinder. Then the lens was held steady in the position until the tinder began to glow. The amount of heat received by the earth from the sun in a year would, if evenly distributed over all latitudes, melt a layer of ice one hundred twenty four feet thick over the entire surface of the earth. In 1805, the first chemical match was invented in Paris. It was simply a wooden splint tipped with sulphur and an ignition mixture of sugar and potassium chlorate. In one of the experiment John Walker, an English druggist, produced a match which was a wooden splint tipped with sulphur and an ignition mixture of one part potassium chlorate and two parts antimony sulphide.

This paper is an informal discussion of an experiment in combining some of the teaching objectives of ninth grade science and English in the form of a ‘Voluntary Science-English Term Paper Project’. The purpose here is to present a practical illustration of a method of achieving certain short term goals common to both high school science and English. The project, carried out in a rural high school in central Virginia, proved to be an economical way of achieving certain goals within a traditionally-oriented curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science teachers struggle to implement and sustain new curricular ideas from professional development (PD) experiences. These PD opportunities are crucial for enacting real‐world changes to teaching practice and address pressing global challenges, such as the teaching and learning of socioscientific topics nested in school communities. Additionally, it is important to consider how school situative conditions are an important aspect in how science teachers learn, develop, and enact curricular practices in their classrooms. This paper is part of a special issue on Teacher Learning and Practice within Organizational Contexts. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to illustrate how researchers can frame research using the theory of practice architectures (TPA) as a lens to develop a dynamic socio‐material understanding of teacher learning within teachers' working environments and their local school communities. An ongoing multi‐year professional learning study with science teachers in an elementary school and secondary school was analyzed using TPA. Using a philosophical‐empirical approach, observations from PD sessions and collaborative meetings illustrated teachers' practices in the form of sayings, doings, and relatings and their changes over the duration of the observations with associated modifications in schools' practice architectures. Although specific school conditions, such as timetable restrictions and curriculum accountability, constrained teachers' practices they were still enabled to learn and develop their practices. Overall, TPA was found to be an insightful framework for theorizing changes in science teaching practices of teachers' saying, doings, and relatings at their school sites. Future research focused on PD within schools would benefit from using a TPA approach to theorizing science teacher learning and curriculum enactment practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we build on a growing body of research on practical measurement for educational improvement, contributing a conceptualization of the organizational functions of measurement in processes of persistence and change. Our work is grounded in theoretical understandings of micro‐institutional change that foreground processes of reproduction and disruption of organizational categories, priorities, assumptions, and practices. Drawing together measurement discourses from multiple fields of study, we identify four metaphors for organizational functions that measures can serve: carriers, windows, exercises, and drivers. We propose a conceptual framework illustrating relationships and pathways among these functions as they operate in context. We then apply the framework in the context of co‐designing three practical measures of science teacher learning in a large urban district, illustrating varied pathways through which the practical measures seemed to function, and documenting their respective affordances and constraints in driving reproduction and/or disruption in the organization's work to support science teacher learning. This line of work extends prior research on practical measurement through its focus on measures of science teacher learning and its attention to how practical measures can function to shape broader processes of organizational transformation and stability. This paper is part of the special issue on Teacher Learning and Practice within Organizational Contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]