This volume provides an overview of research in science education, focusing on physics from 1970 to the present. It discusses various approaches to enhance physics instruction in schools. The first part centers on curriculum research and its evolution to current standards in science education, including the role of school books as teaching tools. The second part addresses students’ understanding and interest, exploring topics such as conceptual change, constructivism, and the use of analogies in physics education, along with the model of educational reconstruction. The third part shifts to the teachers' perspective, emphasizing the significance of professional development in improving school quality. It presents selected aspects of various programs, including a Videotape Classroom Study in Germany, the IMST program in Austria, the “Physics in Context” project, and the SINUS program aimed at enhancing the efficiency of teaching mathematics and sciences. This book honors Professor Dr. Reinders Duit, who has dedicated his career to science education research and will retire from the Leibniz Institute for Science Education (IPN) at the University of Kiel in autumn 2008. The IPN serves as a key German research center for science education, focusing on issues related to teaching and learning in the sciences both inside and outside of schools.
