Revista Eureka sobre Enseñanza y Divulgación de las Ciencias

Beyond social media: Chemical kinetics with a mobile phone and household elements

Martina Domínguez — 2025-10-16

This paper reports the use of mobile phones and freely available apps as tools for determining the kinetic order of reaction between a blue food coloring using a diluted solution of commercial sodium hypochlorite. The activity, implemented in the second semester of the 2024 academic year, was validated with the experimental data collected by a group of 30 second-year students of the Chemical Engineering degree. This effective, low-cost and environmentally friendly procedure allows to collect a large amount of data in a simple way by favoring discussion and subsequent statistical analysis. Moreover, it enables the introduction of chemical kinetics in a simple and accessible way, as a valid alternative choice to classical tests.

Service-learning as a key methodology for promoting critical and responsible use of digital devices in Secondary Education

María Pérez Aguilar — 2025-10-29

For decades, numerous studies by specialists and international organisations have highlighted the need to provide students with a global perspective on the current planetary emergency, in order to engage new generations in building fairer and more sustainable societies. This reseaarch aims to respond to this call by exploring, in particular, the opportunities offered by the curriculum of scientific-technological subjects in Compulsory Secondary Education and Baccalaureate to adress the socio-environmental impact associated with technology, based on STSE (Science-Technology-Society-Environment) interactions. It also examines as the conceptions held by Secondary Education students regarding this impact and the potential for fostering their involvement in adopting measures related to the responsible consumption of technology, through the implementation of a didactic intervention proposal grounded in the Service-Learning methodology.

Español

Roberto Enrique Arias Arce — 2025-09-23

Several investigations expose the need to make progress in the implementation of environmental education initiatives, in particular, regarding the consideration of pedagogical principles by the educators who carry them out. From this condition, the present study investigates the possibilities of having epistemological criteria, through which to explore the didactic strategies considered by chilean pedagogy students in basic education. To achieve this goal, a case study was carried out with future teachers from a Chilean public university, in which the texts generated in training activities of an environmental education workshop were investigated, through computer-assisted content analysis. Regarding the results, transformations in the presence of didactic strategies, associated with each session of the workshop, expose relevant conclusions regarding their consideration in teacher training.

Epistemological conceptions of chemical bonding in the professional practice of chemistry teachers

Ricardo Aponte-Buitrago — 2025-09-24

The epistemological analysis of the chemical concepts grounded in the foundations of the philosophy of chemistry leads to a transformation in teaching practices and highlights the need to rethink chemistry education. However, there is limited research on the epistemological conceptions held by chemistry teachers regarding chemical concepts, as well as on the teaching and technological resources they use to explain these concepts. This paper aims to present the conceptions of chemical bonding held by in-service teachers pursuing postgraduate studies during their professional practice. Data were collected through two open-ended surveys. The findings revealed a predominant reliance on the mathematical interpretation of electronegativity differences (Δχ) to explain this concept, alongside the use of anthropomorphic references and simplified models. Theoretical approaches concerning the nature of chemical knowledge enabled teachers to critically reflect on their conceptions of chemical bonding, bringing them closer to a theoretical model–based view relevant to this research.

Systematic Review on Argumentation in Training of Science Teachers in Service

Alejandra Martinez Morales — 2025-10-21

Argumentation has been a central topic in science education, evolving through various approaches that should be analyzed in light of publications from the past decade. This study identified 24 review articles published up to 2023, finding that none of them provide a comprehensive focus on in-service teachers. Subsequently, a PRISMA-based systematic review was conducted on argumentation among in-service science teachers at the preschool, primary, secondary, and university levels. The search covered the period 2010–2023 across databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, Springer, EBSCO, ERIC, JSTOR, Taylor & Francis, Dialnet, SciELO, and Redalyc. A total of 55 empirical studies were analyzed. Overall, educational interventions report as a favorable outcome the development of improved arguments by participants in these formative strategies. However, few studies examine the impact of these changes on students’ learning outcomes. Limited attention is also given to the obstacles teachers face in learning to argue; it seems more relevant to report achieved changes than to reflect on the underlying difficulties. Moreover, there is a scarce presence of research focused on university-level and early childhood education teachers. The most commonly employed approaches include Argument-Based Inquiry and the Science Writing Heuristic (ABI-SWH), followed by Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Argumentation (PCK-A), all based on variations of Toulmin’s Argument Pattern (TAP). The Dialogic Perspective (DP), in turn, stands out as a strategy that promotes classroom participation and represents a promising line of research.

Pedagogical actions that promote critical thinking in future science teachers

Liliana Pedraja Rejas — 2025-11-04

This study aims to identify and characterize the critical thinking skills activated in the discourse of preservice teachers, based on the pedagogical actions implemented by a teacher educator during science lessons. The research is framed within the interpretive paradigm, using a qualitative approach and a single case study design, complemented by discourse analysis. The results show that certain pedagogical actions (such as the formulation of open-ended questions, the use of Socratic dialogue, the modeling of a skeptical attitude, and the implementation of inquiry-based methodologies) promote the activation of skills such as inference, analysis, explanation, and, to a lesser extent, self-regulation. It is concluded that these pedagogical practices help create favorable conditions for the development of critical thinking in teacher education. This study offers a situated contribution that invites further exploration of effective strategies to strengthen this competence in future teachers.

Inclusive Free-Choice Science Spaces: Theoretical Foundations and Implications for their Design

Montserrat Pedreira Álvarez — 2025-10-07

This study examines the use of free choice in the science teaching and learning processes in early ages within the formal school context. It begins by introducing and defining the concept of an Inclusive Free-Choice Science Space (IFCSS). Following this, the paper presents and provides theoretical support to those key aspects considered essential for ensuring the educational validity from both learning and inclusion perspectives. Drawing on this theoretical foundation and on the authors' own experience in designing and implementing such spaces in various contexts, the paper outlines and justifies the essential elements that an IFCSS should incorporate. Also presents the design implications stemming from these elements. These essential components are then distilled into a set of recommendations for the spatial design, materials, and objectives of the activities included within these spaces. Finally, the discussion reflects on the critical role those adult facilitators play in ensuring the effective functionality of an IFCSS. Attending to each of these aspects should facilitate the implementation of inclusive science spaces that foster scientific learning from early childhood.

Science identity and science capital: new challenges for education and didactic research

María Antonia Manassero-Mas — 2025-10-06

Concerns around the world about the lack of interest and participation in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) among young people, as well as the effects of social inequality based on gender, ethnicity, and class have led researchers to look into science identity (SI) and science capital (SC). Both emerge as research answers to those global concerns to learn more about the reasons and goals behind study choice decisions. This study develops a conceptual analysis of SI and SC, their psychosocial theoretical basis, and their mutual relationships on the basis of their generative studies. Next, the primarily qualitative results of the foundational SI and SC programs are explored and compared with the extensive analytical research on the interests, attitudes, and experiences of young people towards STEM disciplines and their aspirations for a career in STEM, where the inclusion of women and minorities represents a key factor that connects both research programs. The nascent development of quantitative studies on SI and SC, along with the various challenges this orientation faces, the potential benefits for improving the understanding of aspirations and participation in STEM, and the differential impacts of STEM education on social groups are also presented. The emergence of SI and SC is interpreted as a paradigm shift in the research of affective aspects in STEM education, moving from previous analytical research focused on multiple interests, attitudes, and experiences to synthetic research centered on two broad and global, yet diffuse, constructs, SI and SC, which more intensely reiterate the inclusive goal of STEM teaching in a more equitable and socially just manner.

iNaturalist: citizen science for teaching and learning sciences.

José Blanco-Salas — 2025-09-21

The phenomenon known as plant blindness, sometimes defined as the inability of people to perceive, recognise and appreciate plants, has been described as one of the biggest challenges we face as science educators in tackling the socio-ecological crisis we live in these times. Fostering positive human-plant relationships is the responsibility of teachers. A didactic intervention was designed, implemented and evaluated. The aim was to bring the world of botany closer to future teachers (University of Extremadura). During a whole semester, the participants took photos of different botanical species using the mobile application iNaturalist. This activity, which was voluntary and evaluable, involved 61 students (87 % female), 80.3% of the total enrolled, who contributed a total of 1829 observations (mostly of plants). Of these, 156 have so far reached research grade, which means that they have become scientific contributions with potential use for scientific knowledge. The student’s evaluation, carried out by using a rubric (attached), gave very positive results for this activity. Finally, we reflect on the potential benefits of integrating citizen science into formal education.

Analysis of the oral argumentative competence of high school biology students in structured debates

José Antonio García-Pérez — 2025-09-27

This research analyses the arguments, counterarguments and refutations offered by a group of 21 high school students (16-18 years old) in two debates integrated within a training programme to develop competence in scientific argumentation and carried out in the subjects of Biology and Geology in the first and second year of Biology, respectively. The debates focused on two daily life problems related to health (sugar consumption and vaccination). The structure proposed by Oros (2007) for oral classroom debates was followed. The presence of the basic elements of an argument according to Toulmin (2019) was determined for the analysis of the arguments, and the different types described by Leitão (2000) were categorised for the analysis of the counterarguments and refutations. In general terms, there is an improvement in the students' oral argumentative competence and a gradient of difficulty is detected, in the sense that arguing is, for the students participating in the research, easier than counterarguing and this, in turn, is easier than refuting.

The cost of fashion: A didactic proposal based on a socioscientific problem

Lorena Orduña Martínez — 2025-11-06

One of the objectives of science education is to achieve functional scientific literacy that enables young people to be critical citizens in the face of the current environmental situation. Fast fashion is a trend in the textile industry to produce many garments in increasingly shorter periods of time, with the aim of offering diverse fashion products; this has environmental, economic, and sociocultural implications. This article presents the design and rationale for a teaching sequence framed within the socioscientific problem approach and argumentation. Through five teaching units, high school students had the opportunity to analyze a socioscientific problem surrounding the use of chemical substances in the production of fast fashion garments through the use of evidence. The purpose of the activities and some didactic implications are discussed. The proposal aims to guide the use of socioscientific problems to address complex issues of personal and social relevance in the science classroom.

Patterns of interest and motivation for promoting female scientific identity in secondary education

Lourdes López-Pérez — 2025-10-20

The organisation of activities to raise the profile of female role models in the STEM sector is the primary strategy currently being used in formal and non-formal science education to reduce the gender gap in science from an early age. However, literature on the subject has demonstrated that such initiatives can be a double-edged sword and have the opposite effect where they fail to respond to diverse audience profiles. An evaluative diagnostic study focused on secondary school students is thus presented, which contributes to the characterisation of scientific identity patterns that favour the effectiveness of these initiatives. The results suggest the existence of two clearly gender-differentiated patterns in perception of equality in science, with girls being more aware of inequality than boys, particularly those at higher levels of secondary education.

Trends in research on biology education between 2010-2023: a comparative review

Hernán Cofré — 2025-11-04

This article presents the results of an analysis of 558 empirical research articles on biology didactics published in two Spanish-language education journals (Revista Eureka sobre Enseñanza y Divulgación de las Ciencias and Enseñanza de las Ciencias) and four English-language science education journals (International Journal of Science Education, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Research in Science Education, and Journal of Science Education and Technology) between 2010 and 2023. We found that the most frequently published topics were ecology, evolution, and human biology. Most studies were conducted in the secondary school context and focused on teaching strategies. Based on the results, we recognize areas that require further study, such as learning and teaching at the preschool level and in specific topics of cell biology and metabolism, as well as teacher training.