Science Education in International Contexts

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. Students’ Conceptual Understanding of Science

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Student Energy Conceptions

      • Chokchai Yuenyong, Alister Jones, Sunan Sung-Ong

      Pages 3-16

   3. What is the Thing We Call Heat? A Study on Diverse Representations of the Basic Thermal Concepts in and for School Science

      • Shu-chiu Liu

      Pages 17-28

   4. Possible Pathways for Conceptual Development Related to Energy and the Human Body

      • Michael Mann, David F. Treagust

      Pages 29-42

3. Making Science Concepts Plausible for Students

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 43-43

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   2. The Infusion of Strategies for Generating High Level Thinking into the Junior Secondary Science Curriculum

      • May M. H. Cheng, Winnie W. M. SO

      Pages 45-61

   3. Towards the Development of an Instructional Model That Enhances Junior Secondary Students’ Understanding of the Nature of Science

      • May M. H. Cheng

      Pages 63-81

   4. Enhancing Students’ Understanding of the Nature of Science and the Interconnection Between Science, Technology and Society Through Innovative Teaching and Learning Activities

      • Alice S. L. Wong, Benny H. W. Yung, Jeffrey R. Day, Maurice M. W. Cheng, Eric Y. H. Yam, Se-yuen Mak

      Pages 83-99

   5. Small Group Inquiry Science Learning

      • Winnie W. M. So

      Pages 101-111

   6. Getting to Know Your Tools as Science Teachers and Students

      • Kok-siang Tan

      Pages 113-121

   7. Improving Female Students’ Physics Learning in High School

      • Ning Ding, Yarong Xu

      Pages 123-128

4. Science Teacher Learning

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 129-129

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   2. Science Teacher Learning

      • John Loughran

      Pages 131-141

   3. A Study of Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices of Using Information and Communication Technology (Ict) in Classrooms

      • Raymond W. H. Fong, Tony Holland

      Pages 143-158

   4. A Preliminary Study on Teacher’s Ict Competency Through Their Use of Data-Loggers

      • Leo S. W. Fung

      Pages 159-168

5. Back Matter

   Pages 169-178

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This book presents an international perspective on examining and putting into practice new innovations in science education. The chapters are organized into three parts, each of which addresses a key area in science education research. Part I of this book (Students’ conceptual understanding of science) addresses issues related to the identification of students’ science concepts, and the influence of everyday understandings on the construction of science concepts. Part II (Making science concepts plausible for students) addresses the pedagogical concerns of teachers in making science ideas plausible and logical for their students. Part III (Science teacher learning) reports on science teacher learning in Australia and Hong Kong. The focus is on the interaction between research and implementation, or how theory can be realized in classroom practice, with contributions from both non-Western and non-English-speaking contexts and Western and English speaking countries. Taken together, the papers have a common focus on the relationship or integration of theory and practice in science education. They demonstrate a concern to address education reform directions, putting into practice recommendations from science education research, and improving the quality of science education. The contributors of this book come from seven different areas around the world. These contributions have been essential in making the discussions in this book multi-perspective and relevant to an international audience, thus allowing it to emerge to join the international discourse on improving science education. The studies reported in this book provide insights for future research addressing science education reform directions, students’ learning needs and different classroom contexts. The discussions and the findings reported are relevant to science educators, teachers, student teachers, graduate students in education, curriculum developers and those responsible for educationpolicy.

• University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

  May M. H. Cheng

• The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Tai Po, Hong Kong

  Winnie W. M. So

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