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The decomposition of water by electricity, and the voltaic pile as a means of generating electricity, have both held an iconic status in the history of science as well as in the history of science teaching. These experiments featured in chemistry and physics textbooks, as well as in classroom teaching, throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This paper deals with our experiences in restaging the decomposition of water as part of a history of science course at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. For the experiment we used an apparatus from our historical teaching collection and built a replica of a voltaic pile. We also traced the uses and meanings of decomposition of water within science and science teaching in schools and higher education in local institutions. Building the pile, and carrying out the experiments, held a few surprises that we did not anticipate through our study of written sources. The exercise gave us valuable insight into the nature of the devices and the experiment, and our students appreciated an experience of a different kind in a history of science course.

In theory, practical work is an established part of university-level chemistry courses. However, mainly due to budget constraints, large class size, time constraints and inadequate teacher preparations, practical activities are frequently left out from chemistry classroom instruction in most developing countries. Small-scale chemistry (SSC) experimentation in which one uses miniature chemical equipment can drastically reduce quantities of chemicals used during experimentation, which can help overcome some of the barriers preventing practical work in the chemistry classroom. This study evaluated the effectiveness of using miniature chemical equipment at the undergraduate level in increasing students' understanding of chemistry concepts as well as in improving their attitude towards chemistry practical work. Two comparable groups of firstyear students who enrolled for a Practical General Chemistry course participated. A quasi-experimental design was employed in which the experimental group (N = 49) used the SSC approach while the control group (N = 52) followed the traditional approach for over 8 weeks. Data were gathered using chemistry tests, attitude and perception questionnaires and interviews. Findings showed that the SSC approach was as effective as the traditional laboratory approach in improving students' attitude towards practical work, but more effective in enhancing students' understanding of chemistry concepts. More interestingly, SSC was positively accepted by both students and instructors as an effective strategy for teaching first-year undergraduate chemistry practicals. Some shortcomings of the approach were also identified.

We present the life and work of the Norwegian scientist Ellen Gleditsch in the early era of radioactivity. From 1907From -1912, Gleditsch worked as Marie Curie's assistant in the Laboratoire Curie in Paris on the alleged copper-lithium radioactive transformation and on the radiumuranium ratio, as well as studying chemistry and related subjects at the Sorbonne. Later, in 1913-1914, she worked in Bertram Boltwood's laboratory at Yale University on the half-life of radium. Gleditsch also was concerned with academic opportunities for women, and she became the president of the International Federation of University Women. As a professor, the second female professor in Norway, she initiated a research group on radioactivity at the University of Oslo.

Education can serve the purpose of trying to mitigate catastrophes. In a school context, teachers can have a role in enacting an interconnection between critical thinking (CT) as a potentially useful tool and education for sustainable development (ESD), in terms of educating and communicating the importance of sustainability to future generations. This paper uses discourse analysis, drawing on post-structuralism, to explore how Norwegian primary school teachers consider CT (skills, dispositions, and civic participation) in relation to ESD. The study draws on social constructivism and positioning theory (PT) in particular to find patterns in teachers’ own shifting standpoints through individual and collective assertations around ESD. Specifically, in this paper we make efforts to implement the PT to study (i) teachers’ own positioning about sustainability through their communication acts within primary-school contexts, and (ii) the functions of education in relation to ESD in this context. We explored the discussion between three teachers from the same school team during one focus group interview, by tracing the teachers’ uses of I and we (as markers) in relation to Biesta’s three functions of education in the discourse. Our discourse analysis has an exploratory character and is carried out on a limited dataset. PT was used as a framework to categorize the teachers’ statements; treated as content of discourse. The pronoun we is identified in the discourse analysis in three different ways: with the underlying meaning of a humanitarian we, an institutional we, and a classroom we. In the one focus group interview, we also identified teachers’ sense of belonging with the environment and nature, generally regarded to be prevalent in Norwegian society.