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Scientists use specific terms to denote concepts, objects, phenomena, etc. The terms are then connected with each other in sentences that are used in science-specific language. Representing these connections through term networks can yield valuable insights into central terms and properties of the interconnections between them. Furthermore, understanding term networks can enhance assessment and diagnostics in science education. Computational means such as natural language processing and network analysis provide tools to analyze term networks in a principled way. This study utilizes natural language processing and network analysis to analyze linguistic properties of terms in the natural science disciplines (biology, chemistry, and physics). The language samples comprised German and English Wikipedia articles that are labelled according to the respective discipline. The different languages were used as contrasting cases. Natural language processing capabilities allowed us to extract term networks from the Wikipedia articles. The network analysis approach enabled us to gain insights into linguistic properties of science terms and interconnections among them. Our findings indicate that in German and English Wikipedia terms such as theory, time, energy, or system emerge as most central in physics. Moreover, the science-term networks display typical scale-free, complex systems behavior. These findings can enhance assessment of science learner's language use. The tools of natural language processing and network analysis more generally can facilitate information extraction from language corpora in the education fields.

Environmental forensics is the application of knowledge from geosciences and chemistry in a legal setting, e.g., to determine the origin and consequences of contamination events. Teaching environmental forensics requires reactivating prior knowledge from different fields of natural sciences, filling knowledge gaps, and connecting pieces of scientific evidence to form logical chains of arguments. Here, we present a cooperative teaching format that successfully covers the challenges of interdisciplinary teaching while further developing learners' soft skills. Through role-playing in a mock trial of a famous hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] contamination case in California, learners choose to team with the town of Hinkley, as the plaintiff team, or with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), the company accused of the contamination, as the defense team. After introductory sessions, the teams summarize facts, and build and present arguments to support their claims regarding the formation of the Cr(VI) plume, the impact on the population's health, and remediation efforts taken by PG&E. These arguments are delivered in front of their peers and instructors, acting as judges, in a mock trial. Here, we summarize different modalities that have been tested over the past 10 years regarding role assignment and team building. This teaching format has been shown to be successful in engaging learners with the scientific aspects of the case-based trial while helping them become critical about information they are confronted with, delivering arguments in structured ways, defending their points of view, and improving communication skills on a peer- and layperson-level.

Non-formal science education means goal-oriented learning outside of school. The use of out of school learning environments (e.g. science camps) has been found to increase motivation and interest in natural sciences. In this study, the relevance of non-formal science education in science camps has been analyzed from the perspectives of children and families, which has not been studied before. The analysis of relevance has been based on the relevance theory developed by Stuckey, Hofstein, Mamlok-Naaman & Eilks in 2013. The study focuses on the 46 science camps organized by the University of Helsinki LUMA Centre in the years 2015 and 2016, involving more than 900 schoolchildren and some of their parents (N=124). The study examined also the impact of children's gender and children's earlier interest in science on the relevance of chemistry related science camps. Survey and theme interview were both used as research methods. The results of the survey show that non-formal science education in science camps is relevant according to both the children and the families, mainly at the level of individual relevance, with emphasis on present and intrinsic dimensions of relevance. The tasks related to the camp themes, for example in chemistry camps, experimental work in the laboratory, and friends made in the science camps are the most relevant for children. The chemistry science camps are individually most relevant to those children who didn't have much earlier interest in chemistry. Boys are more confident about their own interests at the individual relevance level than girls. At the level of societal relevance, boys are more focused on present-day relevance than girls when girls also consider the future. The levels of societal and vocational relevance were only slightly visible in the answers of the survey. However, based on theme interviews, camps were considered as relevant for all relevance levels of the relevance theory. The results of this research can be utilized in the development of out of school learning environments, especially in the development of science camps and in further research.

This study focuses on a youth science camp for pupils in sixth to ninth grades that is organized annually by the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. The main idea of the science camp is to learn to do guided inquiry in nature. The study investigates the significance of science camp for encouraging young participants to learn science and how the camp supports their learning. The research method used was a survey. Altogether, 47 youth participated in the camp in 2012 and 2013. The results show that the participants wanted to learn more about science than secondary school could offer, and science camp had a positive impact on their interest in science. It was possible to introduce important concepts of chemistry and biology in a comprehensible manner through experimentation in an authentic context. The participants worked as researchers in a positive and non-formal learning environment and they received concrete experience with the various phases of scientific research.

The instruction of Natural Science subject in junior high schools, as regulated by 2013 Curriculum, is to be taught in an integrated way, combining Biology, Physics, and Chemistry subjects. The assessment of which is called authentic assessment. This current study described the instructional system especially the assessment system of Natural Science subject in Batu City. This study was conducted by employing descriptive-qualitative design, recruiting teachers and students as the subjects of the investigation. The data were collected by means of interview, observation, documentation, and triangulation; the researchers were the instruments themselves. The collected data were analyzed descriptively-qualitatively. The yielded results were as follows: 1) There was no teacher with relevant study discipline, bachelor in Natural Science Education, teaching the subject. Most of them were holding degree in Biology, Physics, and Chemistry Educations, as well as Industrial Engineering and Building Engineering; 2) 76.5% of the class was taught by a single teacher; while 17.6% of which was taught by means of team teaching; 3) The investigated schools were implementing 2016 school-based curriculum; 5 hours within a week were allocated for Natural Science subject: 2 hours for Biology, 3 hours for Physics, and Chemistry was taught by any available teachers. For the schools implementing 2013 Curriculum, the materials have been integrated and composed into teachers' book, but Chemistry materials were included into Biology/Physics, or even taught separately; 4) The final score of Natural Science subject was taken from the average scores of Biology, Physics, and Chemistry; the standard of assessment depended on the teachers; 5) Assessment techniques varied considerably but they have not developed meta-cognition, such as: not evaluating article analysis, study journal, self-assessment, nor student-made tests; 6) The teachers mostly assessed the aspects of C1, C2, and C3; while aspects of C4, C5, and C6 (Evaluation and Creativity), affective and psychomotor assessments were rarely administered. The other challenges were the teachers still found it hard to administer those assessments properly; this was also applicable for remedial and reinforcement.

Background: In Slovakia, no relevant information is available about the scientific literacy levels achieved by secondary school students. Purpose: The objective of the research was to identify the levels of scientific literacy among students in the last year of grammar school and examine to what extent this determined the subject chosen for a school-leaving exam, which is related to a student's personal preferences, as well as to the student's profile and preparation for university education. Sample: The research sample consisted of 221 students from 17 grammar schools located in various regions of Slovakia. Design and methods: To identify the level of scientific literacy, we applied the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills. Results: The students achieved the lowest success rate in the skill focused on the identification of the research design elements and its strengths and weaknesses. A comparably low success rate was also observed in the skill focused on the justification of the conclusions based on quantitative data. Other difficulties were identified in the field of understanding the basics of statistics, thus indicating an insufficient level of mathematical literacy of the students in the abovementioned field. By contrast, the highest success rate was achieved in the skill focused on the correct application of the scientific results for social purposes. Conclusions: At the end of secondary school studies, the scientific literacy among Slovak students is at the average level. No differences were observed in terms of gender. In terms of the subjects chosen by the students for their school-leaving exams, we observed that those students who took a school-leaving exam in Biology or Chemistry achieved significantly better results in the test. By contrast, the students who reported on Geography and Civics as the subject of their school-leaving exam achieved significantly worse results in the test.

In natural science education it is important that the macroscopic, submicroscopic and symbolic levels are interconnected in a student's mind. Primary school children have the greatest difficulty in understanding the sub-microscopic, which is outside their experiential framework. This research examines the classroom application of the virtual laboratory in integrating macroscopic, submicroscopic and symbolic aspects of chemistry. Pupils of the seventh grade, aged between 12 and 13 years (N = 225), participated in the didactic experiment that was conducted in ten primary schools in Slovenia. The fundamental research question was whether pupils studying the same natural science content using the virtual laboratory performed better than those who did not. The results of the experiment revealed that in terms of knowledge acquisition the use of a virtual laboratory improved pupil performance in relation to those who did not use elements of dynamic visualisation in the classroom. In accordance with Bloom's cognitive scale, it was demonstrated that in relation to basic, higher and advanced levels of knowledge and comprehension, the use of the virtual laboratory positively influences pupils' understanding of selected concepts in chemistry.

We evaluate the effects of participation in the Swedish version of the Science and Technology for Children Program on content and process skills in sciences, in grade 9. The Swedish version, called Natural Sciences and Technology for All (NTA), is predominantly employed in grades 1-6. Our outcome measures are scores and grades on nationwide standardised tests, and course grades, in biology, chemistry and physics, for the years 2009 and 2010. A nationally representative random sample of almost 16,000 test-taking students is coupled with multi-level information about the NTA, and background factors. Non-random selection into the programme is addressed by propensity score analysis. The matched sample has almost maximum common support and is well behaved in terms of propensity scores. Accounting for selection is shown to be very important. We find significantly positive effects on national test scores (effect size 0.24) and national test grades for physics, but not for biology and chemistry. With respect to course grades, we find no significant effects at all. We consider explanations for the differences in the estimated effects across science subjects and between types of outcome variables, i.e. national standardised tests versus course grades.

The Teacher Academy in the Natural Sciences (TANS) provided middle school (U.S. Grades 6-8) teachers (N = 81) with intensive professional development (PD) in chemistry, geosciences, and physics, with teachers enrolled in one scientific discipline per year. Because some teachers were retained and rotated into different disciplines, the TANS program investigated retention of science content 1-2 years beyond an instructional year. All teacher participants exhibited significant gains (p < 0.001), in chemistry, geosciences, or physics content, between their incoming knowledge and the 10-day summer academy's conclusion. Chemistry and geosciences content were retained until the end of the PD year. Physics participants reported a significant loss (p < 0.001), although gains from teachers' incoming knowledge were still significant. When retention was measured beyond the instructional year, only the geosciences content was retained. Chemistry and physics gains were not retained, with no significant differences between incoming teachers' knowledge and content 1-2 years post instruction. Our research indicates that science content support is needed after PD programs, and importantly, that the support differs between scientific disciplines.

Background: The results of international studies have concluded the low level of science literacy in natural science subjects of Slovak students. These studies also showed that this state can be positively influenced by various innovations, which are implemented into the teaching process of above-mentioned subjects. Purpose: The aim of this study is to identify existing problems and try to search for possible reasons of scientific literacy declination. We focused our attention toward the learning process, its elements and teacher-student interaction in this process. In our opinion, it should be possible to find some approaches on how to improve the results of the learning process and thus science literacy in the next PISA evaluation. Sample: Our research included 62 high school teachers from Slovakia, who do teach Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Design and methods: The research was documented in a non-standardized questionnaire where the teachers were asked closed questions using a Likert response scale. The responses were evaluated by descriptive statistics using tables and graphs. Results: The research presented in this paper has revealed certain issues problems in contemporary education, leading to lower science literacy of Slovak students. Research has also investigated whether teachers have sufficient knowledge and experiences with the implementation of Problem-based learning (PBL) elements in their own teaching. It was observed that students have a reasonably good content knowledge, but an insufficient procedural and epistemic knowledge therefore they are unable to utilize them in problem-solving activities. Conclusions: Teachers were recommended to focus their pedagogical attention on the method of obtaining knowledge and the understanding problem solving in the wider context (qualitative knowledge, science understanding, scientific explanation of phenomena with its proper interpretation).

Efficiency gains arising from the use of electronic marking tools that allow tutors to select comments from a statement bank are well documented, but how students use this type of feedback remains under explored. Natural science students (N = 161) were emailed feedback reports on a spreadsheet assessment that included an invitation to reply placed at different positions. Outcomes suggest that students either read feedback completely, or not at all. Although mean marks for repliers (M = 75.5%, N = 39) and non-repliers (M = 57.2%, N = 68) were significantly different (p < 0.01), these two groups possessed equivalent attendance records and similar submission rates and performances in a contemporaneous formatively assessed laboratory report. Notably, average marks for a follow-up summative laboratory report, using the same assessment criteria as the formative task, were 10% higher for students who replied to the original invite. It is concluded that the repliers represent a group of assessment literate students, and that statement bank feedback can foster learning: a simple "fire" analogy for feedback is advanced that advocates high-quality information on progress (fuel) and a curricular atmosphere conducive to learning (oxygen). However, only if students are assessment literate (ignition) will feedback illuminate.

We describe an interactive module that can be used to teach basic concepts in electrochemistry and thermodynamics to first year natural science students. The module is used together with an experimental laboratory and improves the students' understanding of thermodynamic quantities such as ?rG, ?rH, and ?rS that are calculated but not directly measured in the lab. We also discuss how new technologies can substitute some parts of experimental chemistry courses, and improve accessibility to course material. Cloud computing platforms such as CoCalc facilitate the distribution of computer codes and allow students to access and apply interactive course tools beyond the course's scope. Despite some limitations imposed by cloud computing, the students appreciated the approach and the enhanced opportunities to discuss study questions with their classmates and instructor as facilitated by the interactive tools.

Created to foster inclusive excellence, Smith College's Achieving Excellence in Mathematics, Engineering, and Science (AEMES) Scholars program provides early faculty-mentored research opportunities and other programming as a way to foster success in academic outcomes for underrepresented women in science. Using academic record data, we compared Scholars' outcomes over time with those of underrepresented students before program launch and to relevant peer comparison groups. Since its launch, AEMES Scholars have achieved significantly higher gateway life sciences course grade point averages (GPAs), rates of persistence in life and natural sciences, and participation in natural sciences advanced research relative to baseline. Gains for Scholars in gateway course GPA eliminated the significant gap that previously existed between science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-underrepresented and other students, whereas gains in natural sciences persistence now has Scholars continuing in STEM at significantly higher rates than all other students. Many of the gains for AEMES Scholars were echoed in findings of improved outcomes for our STEM students overall since AEMES' launch. Underrepresented students who were not part of the Scholars program also evidenced increased gateway course GPA over this same period. We discuss potential explanations for these outcomes and ongoing work aimed at achieving further inclusive excellence for women in the sciences.

This study develops a tool to identify errors in the presentation of natural laws based on the epistemology and ontology of the Scientific Realism of Mario Bunge. The tool is able to identify errors of different types: (1) epistemological, in which the law is incorrectly presented as data correlation instead of as a pattern of causality; (2) semantic, in which natural law is presented as a mathematical statement that relates variables but with an absence of ambiguous material reference; (3) deterministic, in which the relationship of natural variables is presented but with no causality statement; and (4) mechanistic, in which a causality statement is presented with the absence of an explanatory mechanism. In this work, Boyle's law was used as an example of the applicability of the instrument. In this case, we found errors in most of the university textbooks that we analyzed. Most of the errors arose from the disconnection between the symbolic and microscopic levels. The presentations of Boyle's law in general chemistry are given in textbooks that include illustrations based in a macroscopic perspective, in which the macroscopic compression mechanism is completely disconnected from the microscopic collision mechanism. This disconnection results in the incorrect presentation of gas pressure as the cause and gas volume as the effect.

Variations in the isotopic composition of elements have been widely used to study earth's climate, biosphere, and interior, and more recently to track the fate of contaminants. Within the broad range of elements that exhibit measureable isotopic variations, metal stable isotopes are increasingly applied across the biological, geological, environmental, and chemical sciences. Mass spectrometry and the isotope (geo-) chemistry of metals, often termed "non-traditional stable isotopes," are not yet regularly taught in university courses. However, their growing importance in the natural sciences is reflected in the increasing number of research papers published. We present here a novel teaching exercise that can be incorporated into a curriculum where the stable isotope (geo-) chemistry of more traditional stable isotope systems (e.g., C, H, N, O, S) or inorganic mass spectrometry is taught. The exercise first introduces the basics of metal stable isotope fractionation. Next, the students use scientific papers to develop spreadsheets that enable them to program equations, to test isotope fractionation models, and to interpret environmental processes.

The UK Government has considerably increased its targets for recruiting chemistry and physics teachers, with a view to increasing the number of students taking separate sciences and to boost science uptake post-16. This article charts the establishment of the science disciplines, rejecting a hierarchy of subjects and the simple splitting of science into three disciplines. It argues that science teacher education (training) should be lengthened to allow science graduates to develop their knowledge and understanding of a wider range of disciplines and calls for the implementation of the teaching of a coherent and inclusive form of natural sciences to the age of 16, with specialisms taken only beyond that age. (Contains 1 note.)

The present article is primarily targeted for the advanced college/university undergraduate students of chemistry/physics education, computational physics/chemistry, and computer science. The most recent software system such as MS Visual Studio .NET version 2010 is employed to perform computer simulations for modeling Bohr's quantum theory of hydrogen (H) atom in class-setting of a virtual laboratory. The necessary computer algorithm is developed to compute discrete values of the orbit radius, and stationary energy levels of Bohr's H-atom. More than 2000 computer simulations are performed to investigate the quantum model behavior starting from the ground state of H-atom until we reached the energy continuum. One of the natural consequences of Bohr's model is that it could provide a perfect corroboration of the experimentally observed spectrum of H-atom with that empirically obtained from formulas derived by famous scientists of 19th and 20th centuries. Using old theory of classical electrodynamics, it was not possible to explain the observed line spectrum of H-atom. Bohr's quantum model of H-atom set the stage for the development of a modern branch of physics and chemistry in microscopic world, the so called quantum mechanics and very recently of a new computing technique known as quantum computing. (Contains 3 figures and 1 table.)

In 4 studies, the authors examined how intuitions about the relative difficulties of the sciences develop. In Study 1, familiar everyday phenomena in physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, and economics were pretested in adults, so as to be equally difficult to explain. When participants in kindergarten, Grades 2, 4, 6, and 8, and college were asked to rate the difficulty of understanding these phenomena, children revealed a strong bias to see natural science phenomena as more difficult than those in psychology. The perceived relative difficulty of economics dropped dramatically in late childhood. In Study 2, children saw neuroscience phenomena as much more difficult than cognitive psychology phenomena, which were seen as more difficult than social psychology phenomena, even though all phenomena were again equated for difficulty in adults. In Study 3, we explored the basis for these results in intuitions about common knowledge and firsthand experience. Study 4 showed that the intuitions about the differences between the disciplines were based on intuitions about difficulty of understanding and not on the basis of more general intuitions about the feasibility or truth of the phenomena in question. Taken together, in the studies, the authors find an early emerging basis for judgments that some sciences are intrinsically more difficult than others, a bias that may persevere in adults in subtler forms in such settings as the courtroom. (Contains 2 tables and 5 figures.)

An interdisciplinary team of science and education faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago and several Chicago-area community colleges developed and implemented a series of four integrated, inquiry-based science courses for preservice elementary school teachers. All four courses are based on guiding principles taken from the rich literature on constructivist teaching and learning of science developed in recent decades. Further, their content and pedagogy align with national and state standards (National Academy of Sciences 1997; NRC 1996, 1997). This article describes each course and elaborates on a particular principle, sharing representative examples of how this principle is enacted in that course. (Contains 8 figures and 1 table.)

There are no fewer than three dozen scientific groups dealing with problems of the development of methods of teaching physics, chemistry, and biology in this country; they are working in pedagogical and classical universities and in institutes of the Russian Academy of Education. Innovative schoolteachers are involved in this endeavor as they attempt to improve the teaching and learning process in their practice. Without question it is reasonable to dispute the relevance and effectiveness of a number of the methodology projects that have been carried out. One problem that is "terra incognita" for methodology science is the residual carryover knowledge that is retained by the main contingent of graduates of secondary school who do not go on to study the natural sciences any further and do not acquire an education in the natural sciences, engineering, or medicine after they get out of school. It is clear that the task of school education is specifically to shape people's residual knowledge. It would be of interest to carry out an examination and analysis of the amount of residual knowledge retained by ordinary school graduates in all basic school subjects rather than just the natural science disciplines. This is an important issue as secondary school programs and the content of school textbooks should be oriented specifically toward reinforcing and perfecting residual knowledge. A related problem is that of developing a scientifically valid method of selecting the content of the basic minimum of knowledge. In this article, the author discusses the teaching of the natural science disciplines in the schools. The time has come to analyze the achievements and the failures of the science of methodology in this country in the natural science disciplines and to discuss a strategy for developing it.

This study of 905 academically talented students (ages 12-16) who completed a 1-year course in high school biology, chemistry, or physics in a 3-week summer program found that the fast-paced courses effectively prepared subjects to accelerate in science and that talented students could begin high school sciences earlier than generally allowed. (JDD)

Life as people know it here on Earth exchanges energy and materials with the environment. Life forms grow, develop, produce waste products, and reproduce, storing genetic information in DNA and RNA and passing it from one generation to the next. Life evolves, adapting to changes in the environment and changing the environment in return. The basic unit of living things is the cell. Life is based on the chemistry of carbon and requires liquid water. Water has wonderful capabilities to dissolve the nutrients and salts on which life depends, and the ability to move the molecules into and out of cells as it flows. This article talks about astrobiology, the study of the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the universe. It also discusses extreme environments on Earth and characterizes the life forms that occupy them. These environments provide Earthly analogues to environments on other planets, and a framework for thinking about the organisms that once did or may now inhabit them. The activities on the poster insert included with this issue are designed to explore this connection.

Within the scope of the 2018 National Textbook Plan (PNLD), books concerning the field of Natural Sciences were divided into disciplines: Chemistry, Physics, and Biology. Following the reform of the New High School (NEM), the 2021 PNLD predicts the amalgamation of these disciplines into a single textbook. Thus, an articulated examination of the arrangement of scientific concepts present in the Chemistry books of the 2018 PNLD (pre-reform) was compared with the books in the Natural Sciences area approved by the PNLD in 2021 (post-reform). The aim was to highlight the changes resulting from the NEM in Natural Sciences textbooks and the possible implications of these alterations on Chemistry Education, resulting from this new curriculum organization. As a methodological option, a qualitative documentary approach was used, constituting an exploratory study. For this purpose, two collections of books approved by the PNLD in 2018 and 2021 were selected for analysis. Content analysis was used as the analytical method. Four categories were used as parameters, two a priori, simple conceptual approach and broad conceptual approach; and two a posteriori, partially simple conceptual approach and partially broad conceptual approach. The predominance of the broad conceptual category in the 2018 PNLD, contrasted with the notable reduction in this category in the 2021 editions, suggests the need for further investigations into other thematic units and collections of Natural Sciences. Such studies could gather additional evidence regarding the lack of fundamental scientific concepts, which may impact students’ civic education in the context of the New High School.

Summary: This study investigates the effectiveness of a Schiff base derived from thio-carbohydrazide and salicylaldehyde as an adsorbent for Cr(VI) removal from wastewater. The Schiff base demonstrated excellent adsorption capacity and reusability, with high removal efficiency and rapid adsorption kinetics. The results were supported by theoretical density functional theory simulations, which revealed the enhanced dynamic nature of the Schiff base system for heavy metal adsorption. These findings highlight the potential of Schiff base complexes as sustainable and efficient adsorbents for industrial wastewater treatment.