Science Education Research and Practice

Dear Colleagues,

Since Piaget's groundbreaking insights into how students make sense of physical phenomena and the influential ideas of Bachelard and Kuhn, a surge of exciting research has followed. Science educators now eagerly examine real classroom challenges at every level, from elementary school to university. Posner and Hewson, inspired by Kuhn, sparked a new discussion with their lively model of conceptual change, shedding light on why learners hang onto prescientific ideas. Researchers now use terms like 'alternative conceptions,' 'misconceptions,' 'representations' and 'intuitive theory' to describe these persistent beliefs. Alongside the conceptual change movement, multifaceted theories have emerged regarding the transition of students' thinking toward reasoning that is consistent and compatible with school scientific knowledge. Concepts such as modelling, argumentation, inquiry-based learning and teaching, narration, ... were the focus of research and practices.

According to this dynamic perspective, science learning is an active journey of conceptual shifts. Despite a treasure trove of studies, achieving consistently meaningful science learning remains elusive. To close this gap, many recent studies urge us to boldly connect research to vibrant classroom practice.

We invite authors to submit studies on the development of teaching strategies. Published authors can showcase innovative, research-driven approaches that combine student comprehension and conceptual change.

Submissions should clearly state potential applications or adaptations within science education. Highly recommend reading works that present a review of published research on the application of the conceptual change model in teaching science.

Prof. Dr. Abdeljalil Métioui
Prof. Dr. Konstantinos Ravanis
Collection Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Topical Collection website. Review articles and Entry papers are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Encyclopedia is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• teachers' pedagogical knowledge in identifying students' alternative conceptions
• teachers' scientific proficiency
• instructional approaches based on the concept of conceptual conflict
• instructional approaches centred on the idea of conceptual change
• parallelism between students' current understanding and historical conceptions
• hands-on labs and teaching activities that help transform alternative conceptions into knowledge that is consistent with what is taught in school
• digital labs engineered to spark conceptual and/or cognitive conflict
• incorporating the study of scientific history into science education