The impartation of scientific education is important in shaping the cognition and skills of young scholars, particularly those in the 11-12-year-old age group. The diversity of educational frameworks and cultural phenomena in Europe results in a wide range of science syllabi for this specific age group. This manuscript undertakes a comparative analysis of these diverse syllabi, exploring various methodologies in curriculum development, didactic strategies, evaluative mechanisms, and integrating technological tools with empirical experimentation. The goal is to identify the most effective practices and potential areas for enhancing students’ scientific and academic journey in this age group.

Students often find it difficult to understand phenomena of everyday life that occur in the natural world, such as the phenomenon of expansion and contraction of liquids, in which there are many misinterpretations. To address this difficulty, this paper suggests another perspective on the didactic approach based on Mixed Reality, the attunement of the two worlds, the virtual and the real, and examines its effectiveness in teaching the phenomenon of fluid expansion. The main pillar of the educational process is teachers and the practices they use in the teaching process. For this reason, the sample of this survey consisted of 54 University students and prospective elementary education teachers. The mixed research approach was followed to collect the data. Through a Mixed Reality environment, using HoloLens 2, students followed a well-structured scenario and worksheets and observations to investigate the phenomenon of expansion/contraction of different fluids. The results demonstrate that through the interaction and direct feedback of the Mixed Reality environment, students gained a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. At the same time, the device was characterized as a particularly useful educational tool that should be accessible to all students for a better familiarization with complex scientific data.

Education is considered the cornerstone needed for the smooth integration of any individual into society. It is of fundamental importance for all people and one of the most valuable means that contributes to the improvement and development of their lives and the society in which they live, create and produce. Education and its process concerns all academic subjects, and it is not limited exclusively to the theoretical level, but it extends to the practical exercise of the knowledge acquired. Within the educational framework, science education is also of major importance. To this end, effective teaching, aiming at the understanding of science and physics concepts, in particular, has been a diachronic interest of all those involved in the educational practice (students, teachers, stakeholders). Physics Education Research (PER) is a multilevel process that contributes to the above goal by constantly allowing education participants to broaden their knowledge in many areas of physics, leading to the improvement of physics concepts knowledge and understanding. Experimental practice, pertaining to a greater or lesser extent to all areas of PER (social aspects, technology, evaluation of instructional interventions or instructional material and more), constitutes an important research field for education and physics learning. In addition, through continuous feedback of the experiment-teaching-research and technology process, new combined motivating experimental and learning environments are constantly being created, incorporating interdisciplinary and cross-curricular approaches in physics education.