This book addresses key issues concerning visualization in the teaching and learning of science at any level in educational systems. It is the first book specifically on visualization in science education. The book draws on the insights from cognitive psychology, science, and education, by experts from five countries. It unites these with the practice of science education, particularly the ever-increasing use of computer-managed modelling packages.

External representations (pictures, diagrams, graphs, concrete models) have always been valuable tools for the science teacher. This book brings together the insights of practicing scientists, science education researchers, computer specialists, and cognitive scientists, to produce a coherent overview. It links presentations about cognitive theory, its implications for science curriculum design, and for learning and teaching in classrooms and laboratories.

Science education at school level worldwide faces three perennial problems that have become more pressing of late. These are to a considerable extent interwoven with concerns about the entire school curriculum and its reception by students. The rst problem is the increasing intellectual isolation of science from the other subjects in the school curriculum. Science is too often still taught didactically as a collection of pre-determined truths about which there can be no dispute. As a con- quence, many students do not feel any “ownership” of these ideas. Most other school subjects do somewhat better in these regards. For example, in language classes, s- dents suggest different interpretations of a text and then debate the relative merits of the cases being put forward. Moreover, ideas that are of use in science are presented to students elsewhere and then re-taught, often using different terminology, in s- ence. For example, algebra is taught in terms of “x, y, z” in mathematics classes, but students are later unable to see the relevance of that to the meaning of the universal gas laws in physics, where “p, v, t” are used. The result is that students are c- fused and too often alienated, leading to their failure to achieve that “extraction of an education from a scheme of instruction” which Jerome Bruner thought so highly desirable.

CRYSTAL—Alberta was established to research ways to improve students’ understanding and reasoning in science and mathematics. To accomplish this goal, faculty members in Education, Science, and Engineering, as well as school teachers joined forces to produce a resource bank of innovative and tested instructional materials that are transforming teaching in the K-12 classroom. Many of the instructional materials cross traditional disciplinary boundaries and explore contemporary topics such as global climate change and the spread of the West Nile virus. Combined with an emphasis on the use of visualizations, the instructional materials improve students’ engagement with science and mathematics. Participation in the CRYSTAL—Alberta project has changed the way I think about the connection between what I do as a researcher and what I do as a teacher: I have learned how to better translate scientific knowledge into language and activities appropriate for students, thereby transforming my own teaching. I also have learned to make better connections between what students are learning and what is happening in their lives and the world, thereby increasing students’ interest in the subject and enriching their learning experience.

This book discusses the scope of science education research and practice in Asia. It is divided into five sections: the first consists of nine chapters providing overviews of science education in Asia (China, Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Oman, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand). The second section offers chapters on content analysis of research articles, while the third includes three chapters on assessment and curriculum. The fourth section includes four chapters on innovative technology in science education; and the fifth section consists of four chapters on professional development, and informal learning. Each section also has additional chapters providing specific comments on the content. This collection of works provides readers with a starting point to better understand the current state of science education in Asia.

Chemistry seeks to provide qualitative and quantitative explanations for the observed behaviour of elements and their compounds. Doing so involves making use of three types of representation: the macro (the empirical properties of substances); the sub-micro (the natures of the entities giving rise to those properties); and the symbolic (the number of entities involved in any changes that take place). Although understanding this triplet relationship is a key aspect of chemical education, there is considerable evidence that students find great difficulty in achieving mastery of the ideas involved. In bringing together the work of leading chemistry educators who are researching the triplet relationship at the secondary and university levels, the book discusses the learning involved, the problems that students encounter, and successful approaches to teaching. Based on the reported research, the editors argue for a coherent model for understanding the triplet relationship in chemical education.

This book examines the diverse use of visual representations by teachers in the science classroom. It contains unique pedagogies related to the use of visualization, presents original curriculum materials as well as explores future possibilities. The book begins by looking at the significance of visual representations in the teaching of science. It then goes on to detail two recent innovations in the field: simulations and slowmation, a process of explicit visualization. It also evaluates the way teachers have used different diagrams to illustrate concepts in biology and chemistry. Next, the book explores the use of visual representations in culturally diverse classrooms, including the implication of culture for teachers’ use of representations, the crucial importance of language in the design and use of visualizations and visualizations in popular books about chemistry. It also shows the place of visualizations in the growing use of informal, self-directed science education. Overall, the book concludes that if the potential of visualizations in science education is to be realized in the future, the subject must be included in both pre-service and in-service teacher education. It explores ways to develop science teachers’ representational competence and details the impact that this will have on their teaching. The worldwide trend towards providing science education for all, coupled with the increased availability of color printing, access to personal computers and projection facilities, has lead to a more extensive and diverse use of visual representations in the classroom. This book offers unique insights into the relationship between visual representations and science education, making it an ideal resource for educators as well as researchers in science education, visualization and pedagogy.