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The South Carolina Master Naturalist Program provides nature-based education to citizen volunteers who will promote environmental stewardship and is offered at six host sites across the state. We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation (the integration of qualitative and quantitative data) of the South Carolina Master Naturalist Program. Overall, the South Carolina Master Naturalist Program is achieving its mission but there were some differences between host sites. We identified where there were differences and why those differences may exist. We make recommendations to help strengthen the program across all host sites in the areas of program fidelity, delivery, and administration.

Gender disparity persists in the personal caregiving of children and older adults, and in professional caregiving duties, with many workplace policies and cultures favoring the "ideal worker" and presenting significant and continuing barriers to female caregivers' professional success and well-being. The recent pandemic both highlighted and augmented this disparity as schools, daycares, and adult care facilities closed or implemented restrictions. This study interprets results from the July 2021 Canadian Natural Sciences & Engineering (NSE) Faculty Workplace Climate Survey by empirically assessing the impact on emotional exhaustion of the increased caregiving burden during the COVID-19 pandemic on female academics in the highly masculinized NSE fields. Results indicate that women were more likely to experience emotional exhaustion even when other factors were considered. Collegiality and inclusion were found to be protective factors, illustrating important implications for, and the retention and support of, success and well-being of female NSE academics.

Cognitive and affective interrelationships are increasingly gaining importance in educational literature, assigning emotions a prominent role in the teaching and learning process. This study aims to promote awareness among prospective teachers of their emotional vulnerability and the influence of affective and emotional aspects in the teaching of natural sciences, mathematics, and social sciences. The research had a dual purpose: to analyse the beliefs, attitudes, and emotions of prospective teachers regarding the teaching of these disciplines and to examine the impact on their beliefs and emotions after undergoing specific training. The study topic is justified by the growing attention emotions are receiving as decisive factors in learning processes and the persistent substantial gap in scientific education research, particularly in the realm of online teacher training. To address and analyse this gap, a descriptive quantitative survey study on beliefs, attitudes, and emotions towards the teaching of these courses before and after participation in a training program was designed. The analysis of the data revealed results consistent with previous studies. Specifically, the results demonstrated that prospective teachers showed more negative emotions, beliefs, and attitudes towards the teaching of natural sciences and mathematics compared to the teaching of social sciences. However, in all cases, improvements were observed after receiving specific training. These findings highlight the need to incorporate emotional improvement projects into online teacher training, particularly in the fields of natural sciences and mathematics.

The aim of this study was to see the effect of using the Instagram media-integrated inquiry learning model in increasing learning motivation and students' critical thinking skills in the matter of reaction rates. This research is a Quasi Experimental Design type. Population consist of class XI MIPA students of SMAN 1 Turen. Sampling used the Simple Random Sampling technique and it was found that there were 32 students in class XI MIPA 4 as the sample for the class of experimental and for class XI MIPA 5 with 32 students as the sample for the class of control. Data analysis used qualitative and quantitative descriptive tests with independent sample-t tests and N-Gain. Qualitative analysis showed an increase in learning motivation in the class of experimental (74%) higher than the class of control (64%). Statistical analysis showed that there were significant differences in students' critical thinking skills with sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 < 0.05. The NGain test showed an increase in the critical thinking skills of the class of experimental (0.82) higher than the class of control (0.72). The results of this analysis indicate that the inquiry learning model integrated with Instagram media is able to increase learning motivation and students' critical thinking skills in the material of reaction rate.

This article describes a study conducted in the discipline of "science education in nature", offered 100% in the distance learning mode, for undergraduate students in biological sciences and pedagogy. The aim was to develop a challenge that would stimulate students creativity and engagement. Through the virtual learning platform, students exchanged information and collaborated with each other. The challenge resulted in a significant increase in student engagement and facilitated the connection between theory and practice. The findings highlight the importance of strategies that promote engagement in distance learning, especially in the discipline in which it was applied. The challenge-based approach stimulates creativity, critical thinking, and the development of essential skills for teacher education in this field.

Many studies have recently focused on the importance of the effective integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools in science education and the need for science teachers to receive adequate training and support to use them effectively. This paper aims to explore the Albanian science teachers' perceptions and use of ICTs in teaching processes. The study provides an interpretative analysis of the opinions of science teachers teaching in the middle and high schools of several Albanian regions expressed in an online survey. Overall, the results suggest that the use of ICT by science teachers in Albania is limited by a lack of proper infrastructure, limited access to technology, and training of teachers on integrating technology. However, there are indications that the adoption of ICT in science education may increase in the future, particularly after the boost from the COVID-19 pandemic emergency.

As a "wicked problem," climate change requires interdisciplinary understanding and collaboration in order to prepare future leaders to develop solutions. To this end, as an ecologist and an anthropologist at a mid-sized university in the southeastern U.S., we designed a pair of interdisciplinary, research-intensive courses for first-year Honors students with the goal of improving understanding and communicating the urgency of climate change. We employed High Impact Practices (HIPs) and Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) to accomplish learning outcomes during both years of the course. Gains in scientific knowledge and climate change-specific knowledge were assessed with quantitative and qualitative analysis of pre and post-tests. Analysis suggests that the course improved climate change knowledge and sophistication of interdisciplinary thinking and increased student confidence in understanding of the process of science. This course structure offers an approach to providing a practice space for developing multifaceted solutions to wicked problems.

This article aims to analyze conceptual, epistemological, and didactic perspectives that contribute to the modeling of scientific culture in normative and curricular documents guiding initial teaching education in natural sciences programs in Chile. A qualitative approach was employed, utilizing thematic content analysis to inductively extract codes. These codes were grouped into the following categories: (1) Science literacy, (2) Science for citizenship, (3) Science education, (4) Teacher education and standards, (5) Teaching and learning process, and (6) Epistemological and didactic approaches. These categories provide insights to the modeling of scientific culture from the documents analyzed. The study concludes that the referenced model of scientific culture transcends deficit thinking and simplistic tendencies by incorporating sociocultural aspects, thus offering opportunities for a contextualized scientific education. While the model recognizes multiple cultural dimensions involved in the development of scientific literacy, there are noticeable inconsistencies in the epistemological and didactic aspects, indicating traces of 'traditional' visions in cultural and scientific education. Therefore, it is recommended that approaches nurturing the development of southern epistemologies and a scientific culture tailored to local contexts be integrated alongside global trends in teacher education.

Natural phenomena and scientific issues are intrinsically interdisciplinary. Students need to study a variety of academic disciplines in the natural sciences to explain a phenomenon or its related problems. Our goal in the current study was to examine the epistemological foundation of students' interdisciplinary understanding of carbon cycling using the supervised latent Dirichlet allocation model. The 454 students in this study were from a public high school and a public research university in Texas. The students' interdisciplinary understanding was shown in each of the constructed response items. In the relationship between the proportion of interdisciplinarity in students' answers to the constructed response items and students' scores on interdisciplinary understanding, all integrations of disciplines were statistically significant in explaining students' interdisciplinary understanding. Moreover, one particular integration set had advantages for obtaining a high score. We found that science coursework contributed to students' interdisciplinary understanding in different ways, and this interdisciplinary understanding was influenced by the number and type of science courses taken. Characterizing interdisciplinarity based on the clusters of science disciplines provided insights into how students synthesize their knowledge. The significance of this study lies in its potential impact on diverse curricular and instructional approaches in interdisciplinary science education.

Contributions: This article presents the results of a study carried out as part of two large-scale pilots and analyzes the impact of the use of modern technologies in education in term of knowledge acquisition in case of students with hearing disabilities. Background: Teaching topics from STEM area is a challenging task for all teachers who have students with hearing disabilities in their class. On the one hand, because of the high degree of difficulty of the information in this field and on the other hand, because of the difficulties that students with hearing disabilities face in understanding this information. In this context, the use of modern technologies in education, but especially the way they are used together with traditional ones, can provide great support for teachers of students with special needs. Intended Outcomes: A set of modern technologies, i.e., virtual lab, virtual reality (VR), in the game-based learning context of the EU-funded NEWTON project, were employed in education as part of the Earth Course. The goal was to increase the accessibility of STEM information in the area of natural sciences for the benefit of students, especially those with hearing disabilities. Application Design: The study targeted secondary school students with hearing disabilities. Content related to natural sciences (i.e., wildlife and sealife) was presented as part of the Earth Course via innovative applications that included virtual laboratories and VR. Avatars were used to support the students with special needs (sign-language translation). Findings: The results of this study demonstrate that the use of modern technologies, combined with game-based learning in science lessons for students with hearing disabilities, contribute to increasing their knowledge level. The best results were obtained when these technologies were used in mixed lessons, alongside the traditional teaching methods.

Positive outcomes from undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have resulted in calls to broaden and diversify participation in research. However, we have little understanding of what demographics are reported and considered in the analyses of student outcomes from UREs. Without this information, it is impossible to assess whether participation in UREs has been diversified and how outcomes may vary by participant identity. Through a comprehensive literature search, we systematically identified 147 peer-reviewed research articles on student participation in UREs in the natural sciences, published between 2014 and 2020. We coded each paper to document which student demographic variables are reported and considered in analyses. The majority (88%) of articles on UREs reported at least one demographic variable and 62% incorporate demographics into their analyses, but demographics beyond gender and race/ethnicity were infrequently considered. Articles on independent research apprenticeships included demographics in their analyses more frequently than studies on course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). Trends in reporting and analyzing demographics did not change from 2014 to 2020. Future efforts to collect these data will help assess whether goals to diversify UREs are being met and inform how to design UREs to meet the needs of diverse student groups.

In German primary schools, natural sciences and social studies are learned and taught in an integrative manner within a subject called Sachunterricht. To teach Sachunterricht in a high-quality manner, it is reasonable to assume that primary school teachers themselves require-- among other things, such as knowledge about pedagogy, teaching Sachunterricht, and the various content areas of Sachunterricht--a distinct interest, academic self-concept, and sense of belonging regarding natural and social sciences. Furthermore, they should possess a solid interdisciplinary competence that enables them to teach natural and social sciences in an integrative way. In the present study, we conducted a longitudinal survey of pre-service primary school teachers from a German university over a period of 2 years to investigate the changes in their (self-evaluated) interdisciplinary competence; the changes in their interest, academic self-concept, and sense of belonging regarding natural and social sciences; and the correlations between these constructs. Our data analysis revealed a decrease over time in participants' sense of belonging to natural and social sciences, as well as their (self-evaluated) interdisciplinary competence, while their academic self-concept in natural and social sciences remained stable. Participants' interest in social sciences decreased, while their interest in natural sciences increased. Moreover, we found varying degrees of correlation between these constructs. In summary, the results of the present study provide important insights into the professional development of pre-service primary school teachers within university-based teacher education for teaching natural and social sciences in primary school. The implications of these findings are discussed in detail at the end of this paper.

The study reported on here was a qualitative interpretative case study. We explored the pedagogical issues of Senior Phase natural sciences teachers when teaching the matter and materials strand in some of the schools in the Siyabuswa circuit. This study was motivated by the concerted focus on the Fourth Industrial Revolution in developing countries with a particular focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, fast-tracked by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The following question guided the study: What are the classroom practices of teachers when teaching the matter and materials strand in the Senior Phase? Semi-structured interviews and observations were used to collect data from 2 purposefully sampled participants. The findings show that some natural sciences teachers are frustrated with the teaching of natural sciences as they are teaching out of their fields of expertise. Furthermore, they are not qualified to teach the subject and the workshops presented are not capacitating them to teach the strand. Their limited content knowledge (CK) and weak subject matter knowledge (SMK) result in misconceptions, which could be transferred to their learners. Moreover, the lack of CK and SMK also impacts on their choice of instructional strategies as they still prefer traditional methods of teaching, which promotes memorisation. In the study, even the teacher who was qualified to teach the subject still lacked content knowledge and instructional strategies like the unqualified one. The challenge is that the core resource in increasing interest and uptake in the STEM subjects, the teacher, is lacking knowledge and instructional strategies. It is, therefore, prudent to recommend tailor-made content enrichment workshops on the matter and materials strand. These workshops should also be intertwined with pedagogical issues. We also recommend studies on specific topics in the matter and materials strand as this study focused only on a broad overview of the strand.

This paper replicates models developed by previous research to study the effects of graduate education on new graduates' initial employment in the Japanese labor market. If education is the best investment for an individual's economic success, then graduate degrees are expected to provide an individual with higher-earning job opportunities. Despite this reasonable economic premise, previous research showed that master's degrees in the humanities or social sciences in Japan have, in fact, a negative impact on obtaining initial employment compared to those with only a bachelor's degree in the humanities or social sciences. This previous research, however, could not overcome omitted variable bias because of data limitations. Omitted variable bias is a key problem for research on education; therefore, this study uses new longitudinal data to overcome omitted variable bias and clearly demonstrate the robustness of these earlier findings. The empirical results of this study corroborate earlier work, showing that master's degrees in the humanities or social sciences do not provide graduate students with an advantage in obtaining initial employment, after controlling for potential bias. At the same time, this study also confirms that natural science majors have a higher probability of obtaining initial employment in comparison with humanities or social science majors. In other words, this paper offers a valid replication of existing research. This shows that the Japanese labor market structure for graduate students has, in essence, remained the same since previous research was completed.

The COVID-19 health crisis brought about transformations in education systems. In Chile, the ministerial authorities prioritized the school curriculum, stressing certain learning objectives over others. This paper seeks to uncover the social functions underlying curriculum prioritization for the subject of natural sciences. To do this, the functionalist approach to the sociology of education was adopted to analyse the prioritized curriculum for the subject in sixth grade elementary. Three dimensions were considered: (1) the principles of curriculum prioritization; (2) prioritized learning objectives; and (3) nonprioritized learning objectives. The presence of functions of creation (social consensus, social stratification, technical-modern development, human capital formation, and care for children and youths) was verified. As there has been no change in the curriculum that enables science education to address the current issues, the paper proposes that the social functions of science education should be resignified. Finally, examining the meritocracy and credentialism underlying the rationale for prioritization, the article finds that the social stratification attributed to education has increased rather than decreased.

In the last 30 years, 4 distinct theoretical approaches have been described for early childhood science education. The approaches are, empiricist, Piagetian, socio-cognitive and socio-cultural. Drawing on the differences among these approaches regarding the theoretical framework adopted in teaching, the role that is assigned to the teacher during the activity and the actions that are expected from the children, we aimed to serve 2 purposes with this research. Firstly, to elicit the in-service pre-school teachers' beliefs about teaching practices for natural sciences and to record the approaches that these beliefs match. To fulfil this purpose, a new instrument was developed. Secondly, to examine the instrument's validity and reliability. The participants in the study were 94 pre-school teachers who served in public schools in 2 prefectures in Greece. Research findings suggest that pre-school teachers tend to state that they mainly adopt practices that fit the empiricist approach while practices that fit the socio-cognitive approach are not used so often. Finally, they seem to rarely follow practices that fit the socio-cultural and Piagetian approaches.

Evolution by natural selection is a theory that constitutes a powerful paradigm capable of conveying the teaching-learning of multiple concepts in biology. However, it has been controversial from its formulation to the present, which also affects education. For instance, while some of the basic curricula of primary education in Europe are arranged around the concepts that are considered necessary for structuring the scientific model of evolution (i.e., Sweden), other curricula do not contemplate such concepts. The last is the case of the basic curriculum of primary education in Spain. However, in Spain, on the basis of such a curriculum, there are 17 different primary education curricula corresponding to each of the autonomous communities of the state. The objective of this work is to state a detailed geographical picture of the presence of the concepts necessary to articulate the model of evolution through the analysis of the autonomic curricula of Spain. With such an aim, words that represent such concepts (evolution, inheritance, selection, adaptation and biodiversity, etc.) have been searched for in the natural sciences and social sciences areas of the autonomous curricula of primary education. Furthermore, a search for such evolution-related concepts has also been performed in the activities of eighteen Spanish primary education textbooks on natural and social science subjects. For this purpose, two aspects were considered: characterisation and scientific skills. Both the autonomous curricula of primary education and the textbooks hold important gaps when addressing evolution. The texts include activities that prioritise basic cognitive skills over the more demanding ones associated with scientific competence.

Published studies on SPOC provided inconsistent findings regarding its effectiveness. Adopting a meta-analysis method, this study combined the results of 32 experimental and quasi-experimental studies published in the past 8 years in China for analyzing the overall effect size of SPOC for improving student learning in vocational schools. Data analysis confirmed that SPOC has a moderate positive effect, with a combined effect size of 0.592 (P<0.05). Further analysis revealed three significant factors that moderate the effect of SPOC, including discipline area, group size, and knowledge type. SPOC has a larger effect size for disciplines of engineering technology and medical education than of natural science, and humanities and social science. Integrating SPOC for a small to medium-sized group with no more than 50 students brings about significant improvement in learning outcomes. Compared to declarative knowledge, SPOC is effective for developing procedural knowledge. The findings support the adoption of SPOC in vocational education. To amplify its impacts, multiple factors need to be carefully considered in the design and implementation.

This paper describes a study conducted in Bachelor of Pre-primary education degree classroom during a Teaching of the Natural Sciences class. It shows how poster may be used as a teaching and learning tool for natural science. The main motivation that guided the research was the fact that half the teacher trainee students had been removed from the natural sciences in their academic training for more than five years. It sets to approach the scientific concepts, but foremost it aims to go further in both scientific language adaptation or didactic transposition, as well as research and later exposition and presentation. It goes beyond the construction of scientific posters. The relevant elaboration of concepts related to the natural sciences is sought and to be able to explain them to their future children's education students. This experience has allowed collecting information by means of quantitative questionnaires; pre-test and post-test ad-hoc questionnaires were used, and complemented with a qualitative in-class observation diary. This one measured the students' participation. The qualitative part is analysed with the SPSS-22 software, while the qualitative data uses the dendrogram as an analysis tool. Through, this experience an increase in interest and motivation was achieved you need to state your conclusions more precisely, especially for the natural science subject, as well as introducing the use of the academic poster for its professional future.

This study was conducted on the perception of high school students regarding the influence of learner and teacher on school science learning. The subjects were 867 South Korean high school students at 464 natural science and 404 humanities learning course. The components of the influence of learner and teacher on school science learning consisted of learning motivation, class participation, learning, and achievement. Overall, high school students perceived that learners had a stronger influence than teacher on learning motivation, class participation and achievement except learning. High school students at natural science learning course recognized more than students of humanities learning course that learners had a stronger influence on learning motivation, class participation, and the achievement than teacher. Since high school students at natural science learning course considered their future careers when selecting such learning course, their interests and motivation in science were already higher than students of humanities learning course. Thus, school teachers have to make an effort to develop the professionalism of teaching because the learning effect was not limited to the cognitive skills of science class students, and may vary depending on the explanations of teachers.

Background: The need to meet the demands of education in the 21st century has seen Namibia move, after democracy in 1990, from a segregationist educational system to an inclusive one in a bid to develop students' capacities to think critically, particularly in science. Research indicates that cultural taboos can impact on how science knowledge is transmitted to and acquired by students. Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate whether and how cultural taboos impact on the teaching of science in a Grade 4 class in Namibia. Method: Using a single case study design, we investigate the impact of cultural taboos on students' acquisition of concepts relating to sexual reproduction and excretion, focusing on the extent to which cultural taboos influence talk as a mediating tool. Results: Findings indicate that cultural taboos silence students and impede the teacher's ability to unpack sensitive concepts in science, potentially creating misunderstandings. Conclusion: Cultural taboos impact how effectively sensitive science concepts are mediated in this context. Contribution: This article adds to the knowledge of cultural taboos in science teaching but also develops a view of science teaching in a disadvantaged rural area where children are being taught in English, not their mother tongue. The use of cultural historical theory, we feel, also adds a fairly tale lens to the understanding of how scientific concepts must be linked to everyday concepts for student acquisition.

The study aimed to investigate students' perceptions of undergraduate programs in relation to exit examinations, employing a mixed research design. A total of 145 students participated in the study. Deans, Department Heads, and College Quality Assurance Coordinators were selected based on availability and purposive sampling methods. The study focused on three colleges each with four years program durations, including Colleges of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH), Business and Economics (CBE), and Natural and Computational Sciences (CNCS). Two departments were randomly selected from each college, ensuring equal representation. Survey data was analyzed using mean, stepwise regression, and one-way ANOVA, while interview data was directly cited from respondents. Results of the study revealed that students' perceptions of exit exams varied across colleges, with CBE students demonstrating a more positive perception compared to CSSH and CNCS. Stepwise regression analysis identified significant predictor variables, including anxiety, stress, risk of exclusion, and resource scarcity, all of which influenced students' perceptions of exit examinations. Overall, the study found that students generally held negative perceptions of exit exams. It was evident that factors such as anxiety, stress, unknown content of the exam, risk of exclusion, and resource constraints contributed to the undesirable perceptions. A collaborative approach involving various stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education (MoE), educational institutions, and departments is necessary to reduce excessive stress and anxiety levels, emphasize the importance of exit examinations, address resource deficiencies, and undertake a nationwide study. MoE needs to formulate a well-defined policy concerning students who do not successfully pass their exit exams.

Natural History has been part of our curriculum since 1858. Not as a single, continuous subject but embedded in many different subjects and qualifications. As OCR prepares to launch a GCSE in Natural History, this article draws on the historical resources of OCR and its predecessor the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate to show the range of natural history type subjects available to students, focusing on those for 16-yearolds. Referencing primary sources available from the Assessment Archives spanning the period from 1858 to 2000, this study reveals some of the qualifications available, as well as the scope and popularity of these subjects and the challenges faced by all those involved.

Background: Today's complex information environment requires effective navigation and analysis of multiple sources to make reliable decisions about complex topics. Learners must enact thinking that reliably leads to well-justified decisions, adapt thinking to specific problems and contexts, and recognize the limits of their existing knowledge (i.e. demonstrate fully apt epistemic performance). Experts can enact such performance in their own discipline but questions of whether and how they adapt that expertise to other disciplines remain. More research is needed regarding whether and how experts adapt disciplinary knowledge to tasks for which they have practical knowledge. Methods: We used inductive coding to analyze think-aloud data gathered from professors from a variety of disciplines (i.e. education, social sciences, and natural sciences) as they read and responded to a flipped classroom pedagogy scenario. Findings: Education experts demonstrated fully apt epistemic performance and more nuanced conclusions than other participants. The social and natural scientists successfully adapted their epistemic performance grounded in practical knowledge, particularly about statistics and higher education careers, to their analysis of the scenario. However, natural scientists overgeneralized their research methods knowledge, demonstrating lower epistemic meta-competence. Contribution: Our findings suggest ways in which practical knowledge supports or hinders adaptation of epistemic performance.

Background: Within classroom research, there has long been agreement on the importance of dialogue and discussion for student learning. However, how the concept of knowledge influences classroom conversation needs further investigation, as this has key implications for students' active participation. Purpose: Our research sought to conceptualise the assumption of knowledge in standards-based curricula and explore some implications of teaching based on this kind of curriculum. To do this, we drew on a larger research project undertaken in Sweden, which involved a comparative classroom study. Methods: Four natural science lessons were examined in terms of student's opportunities to engage in the teaching content. The analytical framework was based on curriculum theory, the concepts of a lesson as a curriculum event, and students as co-authors of teaching content. We analysed two concepts of knowledge - social realism and transactional realism - in relation to an openness towards 'critical moments' during lessons, either noticed or unnoticed, and related them to the logics of curriculum and knowledge. Findings: When framed by classroom teaching designed from knowledge criteria, students' opportunities for acting as co-authors can become restricted, with critical moments overlooked because of a teaching focus necessarily limited by curriculum. Thus, opportunities for creating spaces to pay attention to students' questions and reactions can be constrained. Conclusions: Standards-based curricula, a concept of knowledge with a strong focus on subject-specific facts and ways of reasoning, together with high-stakes assessment, may lead to fewer openings for genuine discussion and student reflection. This highlights the need to leave larger spaces for teachers and students alike to influence content that engages students.

Background and purpose: Most studies have agreed on the benefits of students' participation in discussing socio-scientific issues (SSIs), but few have focused on the serial behaviors through which students declare their positions. Design and method: This study analyzed the serial behaviors of university students when participating in the discussion of SSIs, with an aim to understand their performance in scientific ability and attitude toward science and technology through quasi-experimental designs with pre- and post-test. Additionally, a lag sequential analysis (LSA) of students' decision-making mode was conducted. The measurement tools included 'Assessment of scientific competency' and 'Questionnaire of attitude toward emerging technologies'. The participants were two classes of university students enrolled in a general education course and an introductory course in natural science. One class was the experimental group, which discussed four socio-scientific issues, and the other class was the control group, which studied general scientific matters. A total of 82 students were involved. Results: The one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that undergraduate students significantly improved their competency in designing and evaluating scientific inquiry, but not in explaining phenomena scientifically and interpreting data and evidence scientifically. The LSA results demonstrated students spent much time collecting and sorting research data when arguing over and discussing the issues. Still, there was no significant serial behavior from position to know (research) to making a claim (sign). On the contrary, while students discuss similar to the discussion topic (analogy) or repeat to sustain a commitment to particular ideas (commitment), they have a significant transition to make a claim. Conclusion: These results strengthen our understanding that undergraduate students regard similar cases or commitments are crucial aspects of socio-scientific decision-making and the serial behavior of students in decision-making on SSIs.

Many academic teachers present data as static graphics in their lectures and courses. However, data structures have become more complex in the last decades, especially in the biomedical disciplines, and interactive graphics can provide a better means to communicate the scientific contents to students. Besides, the technological qualifications of academic staff are diverse, and it has been little studied how these teachers can be trained to program and implement interactive graphics for their courses. It is also little known whether interactive graphics will be helpful for teaching and learning. We conducted a pilot online workshop to identify aspects that need to be addressed when teaching academic staff to program interactive graphics in form of Shiny-apps based on the programing language R. The n = 25 participants were academic staff from the fields of medicine or natural sciences. Pre- and post-workshop questionnaires were used to identify which aspects should be considered in future workshops, to query the usefulness of interactive graphics for teachers and students, and to identify the impact of the workshop on the teacher's opinion towards digital teaching devices and their preparedness to program own interactive graphics. Most participants showed strong interest to use interactive graphics in their courses after the workshop, and interactive graphics were overall rated as very helpful for teachers and students. However, only those with prior programming knowledge intended to implement own graphics. We conclude that an extension of the workshop will be necessary to provide additional training for participants with no background in R programming.

Disagreement exists about how to best spark young children's motivation to learn natural science. Both curiosity and wonder are considered important motivational factors for learning during early childhood (0-8 years). This systematic literature review explores research about scientific curiosity and wonder in early childhood education and care published from 2010-2020. The review outlines the population of interest (participants in the study, age of children, study location), methodological trends, and how curiosity and/or wonder are included in the research. The search yielded 300 peer-reviewed articles, of which 33 were included for analysis based on eligibility criteria. The main results showed that: (a) the term "curiosity" was more commonly used than the term "wonder," (b) few studies elaborated on their understanding of the two terms beyond them being naturally present in children, and (c) curiosity and/or wonder were emphasized as means to learn natural science or considered as stimulated by it, although few studies discussed how children's curiosity and wonder can be observed and nurtured. With a better understanding of what defines the terms curiosity and wonder and how to foster these qualities in early childhood education and care, we can learn to better support children's intrinsic motivation for science learning.

The intervention programmes have a direct influence on teachers' knowledge of teaching different topics. This paper focuses on how Grade 8 natural science teachers' knowledge developed during an intervention programme. Eight schools were selected to participate, and 25 Grade 8 Natural Sciences teachers from Gauteng province participated. Data were collected during the intervention sessions, and participants completed a written TSPCK test and content representation tool. Quantitative data were analysed using the Rasch analysis model, and qualitative data were analysed using content analysis of TSPCK episodes using the TSPCK rubric. The episode was a response segment, where TSPCK components were used to transform the topic content. The findings showed that teachers' pedagogical content knowledge improved significantly in different components of TSPCK. The teachers' PCK development was revealed through extensive use of knowledge of representation including demonstrations using diagrams aimed at transforming the concept in planning. Besides, during the intervention, teachers were able to collaborate, have explicit discussions on specific topics, and provide explanations on the use of the five TSPCK components. The study implies that the development of PCK in fundamental topics in a discipline can be implemented through a TSPCK-based intervention.

This mixed-methods study reports the results of a survey completed by a sample of Puerto Rican social and natural scientists (STEM-S) regarding their perceptions of the intersectionalities of racism, colorism, colonialism, and the culture of science. Most participants ranked themselves as light-skinned and were familiar with the racist stereotypes presented in the survey, with female participants reporting hearing racial stereotypes significantly more frequently than males. Dark-skinned Latinx scientists were more likely to experience discriminatory practices in general, in K-12 schools, and at meetings with colleagues or peers. The higher the professional level, the fewer the interactions with coworkers or peers who were darker-skinned. Power differences among lighter and darker-skinned scientists were attributed to systemic and covert racism, discrimination, and the influences of slavery and colonialism. Fostering anti-racist education in K-16 STEM courses, and more Black and Afro-descendant mentors and role models were suggested as ways to challenge racial inequities in STEM-S fields.

This study aims to explore the experience and training of pre-service and in-service teachers (n = 470) using visual diagrams. For this purpose, they answered a questionnaire regarding their training and experience with them throughout their entire education. The results show that teachers' experience with visual diagrams was very limited at all educational stages and subjects. They consider them valuable for learning, but they have received little instruction on diagrams, copying existing materials rather than producing original ones. They mainly produced their own visual diagrams in Natural and Social Sciences. They also produced other type of diagrams (mainly quantitative and verbal) in non-STEM subjects. The results indicate a need to provide teachers with training and opportunities to practice with visual diagrams, and to make them competent to use them in their teaching to increase their didactic use with their students throughout the educational system.

Multiple perspectives on geographical thinking are lacking in the teaching of climate change in school geography. This study establishes an epistemic model through a co-construction design to support geography teachers' curriculum making with respect to climate change. We developed the preliminary model with four main geographical perspectives, including natural scientific, humanistic, social scientific, and posthuman perspectives, by drawing on studies in academic geography. Based on interviews with nine geography education researchers who have been involved in the GeoCapabilities project, we examined the educational potentials of multiple geographical perspectives in developing student's capabilities to react to climate change.

Despite the increasing focus on incorporating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into education through curriculum mainstreaming, related research remains lacking. This study explored the representation of SDGs in Taiwan's national curriculum in terms of selection and organization. Through a content analysis of the social studies and natural sciences curriculum guidelines, the findings revealed that SDG-related content comprises a minor part of the guidelines and is not well organized, possibly due to limitations on discipline characteristics and curriculum types. A subtle but complex implicit curriculum reflects neoliberalism, which addresses SDG-related issues through market mechanisms and shifts the focus from power, politics, and citizenship to consumers' choices and lifestyles. The results provide a reference for policymakers and educators in re-examining underrepresented SDGs and dimensions and organizing them coherently. They also bridge the gap between the international framework and national curricula, laying the foundation for international comparisons, discussions, and debates on ESD.

In Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), learners can post both text comments and overall ratings regarding the courses. There is growing interest in assessing the consistency of online reviews and the determinants of learner satisfaction. This study analyses the disconfirmation effect between textual review topics and the determinants of learner satisfaction in MOOCs. The MOOCs are categorised under three disciplines - Social Science, Technical Science, and Humanities & Natural Science. A crawler was employed to collect the corpus, extracting 93,679 reviews of 5,214 online courses from a Chinese university MOOC platform (icourse163.org). Textual analytics was used in the topic extraction. The empirical results suggest a strong disconfirmation effect between textual reviews and the determinants of learner satisfaction, i.e., not all textual review topics affect the overall learner satisfaction. Compared with positive reviews, negative (and neutral) reviews have a stronger disconfirmation effect. Further, the antecedents of learner attention are course-discipline specific. The disconfirmation effect is course-discipline dependent, with the most prominent for Technical Science courses, and the least for Humanities & Natural Science courses. This study provides a framework to guide platform managers and course instructors in better course delivery and enhancing overall learner satisfaction.

Cinquain is a poetic form, or stanza, of five lines that do not rhyme, which follows some strict rules. Cinquain is also considered to be a training means, a method, a technique, an instrument used for reflection, for synthesis of all knowledge on a particular topic (a being, an object, an ensemble of objects), towards developing one's creativity. In this research, the quintets were created by 47 university students in the last phase of a learning activity structured on the evocation-realisation of meaning-reflection model. The process of preparation and creation of quintets and the quintets created have been analysed, the conclusion being that quintets are an efficient technique in highlighting representations on a specific topic.

The study reported on here was undertaken to understand the impact of mentoring novice science teachers. The study was conducted within the Gauteng province, because there have been many debates and concerns on the necessity to devise ways of improving the understanding of science in schools in the province. The purpose of this study was to understand the effects and impact of mentoring novice natural science teachers within the Gauteng province. We used the qualitative research approach and this was motivated by the need to understand the perceptions and experiences of the research participants. Purposive sampling was used as sampling method to select novice science teachers and relevant teachers to be part of the sample. Through the use of semi-structured interviews as data collection method, it was discovered that mentoring of novice teachers refers to the method of empowering new teachers to be effective in their work-related tasks to become true professionals in the academic profession. We concluded that several mentoring initiatives and mechanisms were used to assist novice teachers. Among these programmes, training, skills development and technical support to enhance communication skills and manage the curriculum were underscored. We concluded that the mentoring of novice teachers was important within Gauteng, as it raised awareness and lead to expert science teachers being equipped with a wide range of skills to achieve the best results in the classroom. Mentoring also capacitates novice teachers on how to handle laboratory equipment and chemicals to benefit learners. We also gathered that mentoring had a direct impact on novice science teachers. It lead to the creation of an effective and excellent teaching environment, resulted in higher levels of teacher retention and improved teachers' service delivery. It also strengthened the emotional and psychological well-being of teachers. We thus recommend training, development, and the allocation of finances towards enhancing the mentoring of novice science teachers.

Natural science learning achievement is an essential factor in learning outcomes. This research investigated an experimental study that aimed to improve concept science test result in online learning through Jigsaw cooperative learning model and learning style. The research involved the sample of 80 students from junior high school in South Jakarta, Indonesia divided into two groups: the experimental class and the class control. Raw data were statistically analyzed using the two-way variance technique at the .05 significance level. The findings revealed an effect between cooperative learning on natural science learning achievement, learning interest in natural science learning achievement, and interaction between cooperative learning and learning interest in natural science learning achievement. As a result, cooperative learning type Jigsaw shows a significant impact and had a good test result on natural science learning achievement. Therefore, the research suggests that Jigsaw cooperative learning is well suited to use as a learning model among junior high school students based on effect size test results.

Literature shows that science teachers' development and practice of PCK have always been a concern in science education research. Globally, national policies have begun to underscore the instruction of science teachers as a great concern. This study is considered worthwhile, as it intended to address this gap by exploring a beginner teacher's PCK knowledge and articulated PCK-in-practice. One participant was purposefully sampled. An exploratory qualitative case study was conducted, and the beginner natural sciences teacher's PCK of teaching grade 9 electric circuits was explored and analysed through an in-depth enquiry. First, the participant was interviewed, then classroom observations were conducted. The observations were video recorded while the topic in question was being taught. The PCK classroom observations schedule was adopted from Barendsen and Henze (2019). A post-classroom observation interview was conducted. Saldan~a's (2009) model and Pitjeng's (2014) topic specific PCK rubric were adopted as analytical tools. The findings of this study show that the participant ignored students' contributions and debates because the lessons were teacher centred. The participant highlighted difficulties linking theoretical classroom science concepts with learners' real-life experiences. This study is important, as it shows the interconnections of PCK knowledges and how they play a significant role in a teacher's articulated PCK-in-practice with respect to electric circuits.

Natural science itself is an experimental science, so practice and experimentation are important and are typical teaching methods of this subject. To make practice and experiment play the highest strengths in teaching and developing the ability to learn about nature - one of the three specific competencies of natural science, the association of experiments with scientific methods plays a special role. This article presents the general problems of teaching practical experiments according to the scientific method and applying it in teaching the topic "Living animals" in Natural Science, grade 7. The research results can be teachers' references in teaching Natural Science to meet the teaching objectives in the direction of developing students' capacity in Vietnam in the current period.

Connectedness to nature (C2N) shows a positive relationship with many factors supporting children's health, wellbeing, and development. In addition, C2N has been shown to have a positive relationship with learning about and caring for nature. Despite a long history of outdoor education in early childhood settings in Sweden, C2N is not a concept that early childhood professionals widely use. In this study, we aimed at investigating whether early childhood educators perceived C2N as a valuable idea for their professional efforts. Further, the possible relationship between early science learning and C2N was explored. Specifically, Swedish preschool teachers' view on how natural science teaching as part of the Swedish National Curriculum for Preschool could promote children's connectedness to nature. Teachers from two preschools participated in a connectedness to nature workshop and subsequently reflected on their teaching in a questionnaire and during two follow-up discussions. The data reveals a broad set of content regarding natural science teaching and connectedness to nature in the preschool setting. Results indicate that teachers focus on children's interests, participation, and collaboration in their work with children. Further, results indicate educators perceive their role as someone exploring nature together with children.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects are taught in English through the use of the CLIL approach following trilingual education that has been implemented in several pilot schools since 2007. In the Kazakhstani background, however, the CLIL approach is still in its infancy, and little is known about the views of stakeholders that can be useful for understanding its current condition and for effective adoption. The present study aimed to explore the attitudes and perceptions of the students of the CLIL approach in one of the trilingual schools. The study used a mixed approach to the design of case studies and semi-structured interviews and questionnaires as tools for data collection. Nine teachers participated in one-on-one interviews and a total of 53 school teachers (39 women and 14 men aged 20-60) participated in the survey. The study showed that students are primarily positive about the CLIL approach.

The study of academic achievement continues to be one of the "star" topics in the field of education today because of its great importance as an indicator for assessing educational quality and has therefore been studied from various perspectives. In this regard, the aim of this study was to study which dimensions of self-concept (behavioral, intellectual, physical, lack of anxiety, social or popularity and subjective happiness-life satisfaction) predict performance in each core subjects (Spanish Language and Literature, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and First Foreign Language (English)). For this purpose, a sample of 116 students from the last cycle of Primary Education (10-12 years) was selected by accessibility and administered a multidimensional Self-Concept Scale. The data were analyzed using the multiple linear regression technique, evaluating the Root Mean Squared Error, statistical power and effect size in all of them. The main results show that intellectual self-concept is the most important predictor of academic achievement (p<0.05). Therefore, schools should be aware of the importance of fostering confidence and expectations of success in students' academic tasks.

This research conceived multivariate learning concepts and aimed at the implementation of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) life learning of face recognition, self-driving, and robots' situational issues into problem-based learning (PBL) in natural science. This research put forward problem-solving and group cooperation in which students worked together to complete learning tasks from encountering problems to planning problem-solving. All 127 participants engaged in this research from the Hungkuo Delin University of Technology in Taiwan. 7 experts helped construct the content validity, construct validity, and reliability through instrument developments of 5 open-ended test questions and 31 learning attitude items. The statistical analyses revealed that those students improved their scientific cognitive skills of problem-solving by quantitative analyzes and presented their logical reasoning and activation ability by qualitative ones. In addition, the descriptive statistical analysis of learning attitude revealed that students had positive thinking attributes for the application of cross-disciplinary PBL and AI new knowledge. These findings had implications for the AI cognitions with PBL educational environment to increase innovation in the classroom. Pedagogical suggestions presented that students' learning growth in the environment requires long-term cultivation to exhibit significant learning outcomes in the future.