We use the Survey of Thermodynamic Processes and First and Second Laws-Long (STPFaSL-Long), a research-based survey instrument with 78 items at the level of introductory physics, to investigate introductory and advanced students' difficulties with entropy and the second law of thermodynamics. We present an analysis of data from 12 different…

Load reduction instruction (LRI) is an instructional approach designed to manage the cognitive load on students as they learn complex learning materials. According to Cognitive Load Theory, complex learning is associated with high cognitive load and when not effectively managed, could impede learning. Inquiry-based learning with hands-on…

Cognitive load studies are mostly centered on information on perceived cognitive load. Single-item subjective rating scales are the dominant measurement practice to investigate overall cognitive load. Usually, either invested mental effort or perceived task difficulty is used as an overall cognitive load measure. However, the extent to which the…

We discuss how research on student difficulties was used as a guide to develop, validate, and evaluate a Quantum Interactive Learning Tutorial (QuILT) to help students learn how to determine the completely symmetric bosonic or completely antisymmetric fermionic wave function and be able to compare and contrast them from the case when the particles…

Students' lack of interest in chemistry becomes a significant issue in chemistry learning. This may be caused by the negative perception of students about their difficulties in learning chemistry. This study aims to explore views and causes of difficulties in learning chemistry from the perspective of secondary school students. This research was…

Educational animation, recognized for its potential accessibility and engaging qualities, has become increasingly prevalent in classroom instruction. However, not all educational animations exhibit high quality or significantly enhance learning outcomes. This study addresses the need for optimizing educational animation design to enhance student…

This study explored the impact of oxidation-reduction reaction problem difficulty on university students' cognitive load using event-related potentials (ERPs). Forty-eight balanced low and high difficulty problems were designed. Fifteen undergraduate students majoring in chemistry (8 females and 7 males) participated in the study. Results…

The aim of this research is to take a fresh look at the physical science concepts that Year 3 students struggle with. In this work, the responses of over 8,000 middle-primary-aged students to a range of physics, space science and chemistry questions were evaluated. The questions covered a number of topics ranging from selecting and using simple…

Chemistry is often daunting for college students, contributing to high attrition rates in STEM majors. This study explored students' perceptions of the challenges in studying chemistry, including task effort and emotional costs. We examined how these perceptions, along with goal approaches, impact academic performance and retention in general…

Despite increased research interest in improving students' scientific inquiry abilities, how to conduct scientific inquiry using science textbooks that are easily accessible to primary school students remains understudied. This study developed and verified an inquiry activity model (IAM) to improve the performance of primary school students in…

Advances in embodied learning and the use of gesture has gained greater interest amongst educators and researchers in recent years. The emerging evidence supporting the use of physical enactment rather than just auditory modes of instruction remains unresolved. This paper investigates the pedagogical methods used by a science teacher instructing a…

Recent instructional reforms in science education aim to change the way students engage in learning in the discipline, as they describe that students are to engage with disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and the practices of science to make sense of phenomena (NRC, 2012). For such sensemaking to become a reality, there is a need to…

An Australia-wide consensus was reached on seven core concepts of physiology, one of which was "structure and function" with the descriptor "Structure and function are intrinsically related to all levels of the organism. In all physiological systems, the structure from a microscopic level to an organ level dictates its…

Data collection is crucial in securing evidence to support students' arguments during scientific inquiries. However, due to the high costs associated with equipping schools with various measurement devices, students are limited in the scope of their scientific inquiry. Arduino can be proposed as a solution to the lack of measurement devices in…

We use the Survey of Thermodynamic Processes and First and Second Laws-Long, a research-based survey instrument with 78 items at the level of introductory physics, to investigate introductory and advanced students' difficulties with internal energy, work, and heat transfer. We present analysis of data from 12 different introductory and advanced…