In this study, we investigated the relationships among cognitive conflict and situational interest induced by a discrepant event, attention and effort allocated to learning, and conceptual change in learning the concept of density. Subjects were 183 seventh graders from six middle schools in Seoul, Korea. A preconception test, a test of responses to a discrepant event, and a questionnaire of situational interest were administered as pretests. Computer-assisted instruction was then provided to the students as a conceptual change intervention. Questionnaires regarding attention and effort, and a conception test were administered as posttests. The conception test was administered once more as a retention test four weeks later. The results of path analysis indicated that both cognitive conflict and situational interest induced by a discrepant event respectively had an indirect effect on students‘ conceptual understanding, which were mediated by attention and effort allocated to concept learning. Situational interest, however, was found to exert a stronger influence on conceptual change than cognitive conflict. It was also found that attention, either directly or indirectly through effort, influenced students‘ conceptual understanding. 

This research draws on developments in educational research where learning progressions are emerging as a strategy for synthesizing research on science learning and applying that research to policy and practice, and advances in the natural sciences, where interdisciplinary research on coupled human and natural systems has become increasingly important. It focuses on the human systems that supply all of our essential goods and services (i.e., food, water, transportation), which begin and end in the earth‘s natural systems. In order to investigate what students know about how human actions affect environmental systems, we developed assessments focusing on supply and waste disposal chains. In addition, students were asked about a major environmental issue – global warming. Assessments were administered to elementary, middle, and high school students from rural, suburban, and urban schools. Results from this study provide insight into how student knowledge of connections between human-engineered and natural systems varies across grade level and context, which is essential if we are to teach students to be responsible citizens and stewards of our environment.

In this study, whether or not constructivist teaching of double-slit interference of light has a positive effect on the secondary school students‟ conceptual change is examined. An achievement test, a conceptual understanding test and semi-structured interviews were used as data collection tools in this mixed methods research. Experimental group was taught with constructivist approach while control group was taught with traditional method in which teacher was the only authority in defining the course of teaching. It has been identified that experimental group students show high level conceptual understandings after teaching. Superiorities of experimental group, which involve the construction of cause and effect relationships, the transfer and configuration of knowledge, have been identified with the interviews conducted. It was concluded that teaching in the experiment group was more successful than teaching in the control group in terms of the construction of the meaning of interference, path difference, fringe width concepts and understanding the formation of bright and dark fringes.
 

In the Ontario publically-funded school system, there are no provincial curriculum guidelines or distinct courses for Ecological Literacy. Rather, the Ontario Ministry of Education policy is that “environmental education” should be taught in all grades and all existing subject matter. Because there are no specific Ecological Literacy courses in the provincial curriculum, few programs in Ontario Faculties of Education exist to train teachers in Ecological Literacy. Thus, in this study, we examined what incoming teachercandidates from various disciplinary backgrounds know about general concepts of Ecological Literacy, as the expectation is that all teachers should teach “environmental education” in whatever subject area they end up teaching. Specifically we wanted to determine how teacher-candidates would define and explain various concepts with the presumption that these are the same or similar definitions they would be using in their own classrooms when they become qualified teachers. 
 

Thirteen primary and pre-primary schools in Extremadura (Spain) were participants in an educational research project, "Ecocentros", based on school environmental audits (ecoaudits). To understand the contribution these experiences can make to achieving the objectives of environmental education, it is essential to know what is actually incorporated into the curriculum and how. Progress was made in the integration of environmental education at the classroom level. This strengthens the development of the processes of participation and the motivation of the pupils and the teaching community.

According to environmental education scholars, most people do not use their environmental awareness to behave proenvironmentally. Scholars therefore believe that there is a gap between humans‟ cognitive and behavioural patterns. On one hand, a plethora of factors, such as religion, culture, self-efficacy, emotions, and so on, may be responsible for this gap. On the other hand, the ways we try to create environmental awareness may be problematic. The present study addresses the latter issue. Instead of conveying shallow environmental information, we foresaw that an action-oriented program would provide fruitful conclusions. To this end, the aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a project-based learning environment as an action-oriented method for developing proenvironmental behaviours. 33 student teachers, who took project-based Environmental Science course, in the 3rd year of Elementary Science Teacher Training Program at Ahi Evran University, Turkey, voluntarily participated in the present study and responded the questionnaires. A mixed design with quantitative and qualitative methods was used for the data analysis. The qualitative part consisted of a questionnaire including two open-ended questions. Content analysis was employed to examine these data. In the quantitative analyses, descriptive statistics, t-tests, and ANOVA were used. The findings of present study suggest that the project-based learning environment caused positive changes in student teachers‟ behaviours regarding environmental protection. The paper concludes with a discussion about the relationships between environmental education and science, socio-cultural issues, and educational implications.