Inquiry experiences in secondary science classrooms are heavily weighted toward experimentation. We know, however, that many fields of science (e.g., evolutionary biology, cosmology, and paleontology), while they may utilize experiments, are not justified by experimental methodologies. With the focus on experimentation in schools, these fields of science are often not included in the inquiry experiences our students receive. I propose utilizing the distinction between experimental and historical sciences as a way to improve the diversity of scientific methodologies represented in the science classroom. This distinction can provide a framework for teachers to examine their own inquiry practices in light of the diverse methodologies present in science today. In this paper, the framework is presented and analyzed in light of the scientific practices highlighted in the Next Generation Science Standards and key concepts needed to discuss historical science methodologies are discussed.

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This article explores how scholars have framed studies of preservice science teacher (PST) knowledge and learning over the past twelve years. We examined relevant studies between 2008 and 2020, coding them by theoretical perspective (cognitive or sociocultural), knowledge perspective (deficit or asset), and teaching level (elementary, secondary, or both) of the PSTs in the study. We found patterns between knowledge and theoretical perspective use, perspective use over time, and differences between studies of elementary and secondary level PSTs. We conclude with a proposed model of theoretical and knowledge perspectives as seen in the reviewed studies as well as further questions for the field.

In this study, we examined the ways in which two middle school science teachers elicited and were responsive to students' initial science ideas for explaining an anchoring phenomenon while teaching the same model‐based learning unit focused on plate tectonics. Data sources included student models, classroom video, and classroom artifacts. Our analysis revealed a connection between the elicitation of initial ideas, teacher responsiveness to those ideas, and the continued use of those ideas by the students across the unit as evidenced in their individually constructed models. In both classrooms, variation in initial ideas seen on the first day narrowed as students engaged in activities designed to challenge their ideas and present the scientifically accepted explanation of the phenomenon. In one classroom, however, far more ideas were surfaced early, and those ideas were utilized by students as they made sense of the phenomenon. In the other classroom, far fewer ideas were surfaced early and those that were all but disappeared once the unit activities began suggesting student ideas were less likely to be utilized as a sense‐making resource. This study contributes to a growing understanding of the importance of eliciting and responding to students' initial ideas in students' productive disciplinary engagement across an instructional unit.