International Journal of Physics and Chemistry Education

Advocating for Yorùbá as a Medium of Instruction in Teaching Physics

Adeniyi Michael Adeduyigbe — 2025-08-08

Language plays a critical role in physics education, influencing students' comprehension and engagement. This study examines the impact of using Yorùbá as a medium of instruction in teaching physics, highlighting its potential to improve conceptual understanding and academic performance. Drawing from indigenous knowledge systems, the study explores how traditional Yorùbá practices align with fundamental physics concepts. While integrating Yorùbá into physics education presents challenges such as the lack of standardised terminology and teacher preparedness, these can be addressed through curriculum development and bilingual resources. A bilingual approach incorporating Yorùbá and English could enhance learning outcomes, making physics more accessible and culturally relevant.

AI in chemistry and chemical education

Johannes Huwer — 2025-08-08

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping chemistry education by offering new tools for teaching, learning, and research. We explore how AI can both support chemistry learning and serve as a subject of instruction, while also addressing the ethical, technical, and educational challenges involved. It highlights the need to systematically integrate AI-related competencies into teacher education, guided by frameworks like DiKoLAN AI. A reflective, responsible approach is essential to ensure AI enhances, rather than undermines, scientific understanding and equity in the classroom.

Education for sustainable development, nanoscience, and chemistry education: A small scale survey among a sample of Italian chemistry teachers

Paola Ambrogi — 2025-08-08

This survey explores the experience and perceptions of Italian chemistry teachers toward Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). In Italy, chemistry lessons could include learning about sustainable development issues, but it is unclear to which extent ESD in chemistry lessons is operated. Additionally, ESD became a central part of the Italian interdisciplinary teaching subject of Educazione Civica (EC) which might be translated as citizenship education. In EC, all science subjects are involved, including chemistry, where lessons are taught by chemistry teachers. This survey inquires about the potential incorporation of ESD and also nanoscience into chemistry lessons in general and in EC in particular from the viewpoint of Italian chemistry teachers. The focus is on teachers’ attitudes to including ESD and nanoscience in their lessons and potential difficulties in implementing them.

Reading Adapted Scientific Literature: A Theoretical and Qualitative Assessment of its Potential for Promoting an Understanding of Nature of Science

Thomas Waitz — 2025-08-08

Reading authentic scientific literature is expected to have many positive effects on students, including the communication of various aspects about nature of science. Many different approaches are discussed, e.g., using a research article unchanged, adding comments and explanations to an article, or changing and adapting it. Common to all approaches is the underlying premise that the characteristic properties of scientific literature can promote nature of science in educational settings. To support this premise, this article first links selected structural and rhetorical features of scientific literature to aspects of the nature of science. We then report on our qualitative study of how reading an adaptation of a scientific review affects pre-service teachers' understanding of nature of science. The examined features of scientific literature point to aspects of nature of science. After our intervention, we observed a shift in participants’ perception of the uncertainty of scientific knowledge, leading to a more accurate understanding, while changes on the empirical nature of scientific knowledge and as the subjectivity of scientists improved primarily among individual participants. From both a theoretical and an empirical point of view, our findings collectively suggest that engaging with authentic scientific literature in form of adapted literature can effectively promote an understanding of nature of science.