Integrating agent-based models (ABMs) has been a popular approach for teaching emergent science concepts. However, students continue to find it difficult to explain the emergent process of natural selection. This study adopted an ontological framework--the Pattern, Agents, Interactions, Relations, and Causality (PAIR-C)--to guide the design of…

Organic chemistry is accepted as a crucial part of science higher education funneling students into many career opportunities such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and medical industries. Students attempting organic chemistry courses in higher education are among a plethora of majors including biology, chemistry, health science, and engineering.…

This study investigated the stability and persistence of prospective elementary teachers' conceptual understanding of average speed. A questionnaire containing two questions about average speed was administered to the prospective teachers prior to their admission to an elementary science methods course (pretest) and at the end of the course…

College students lack fact-checking skills, which may lead them to accept information at face value. We report findings from an institution participating in the Digital Polarization Initiative (DPI), a national effort to teach students lateral reading strategies used by expert fact-checkers to verify online information. Lateral reading requires…

The present study aimed to remediate pre-service teachers' misconceptions about sampling distributions and to develop their conceptual understanding through the use of conceptual change texts (CCTs). The participants consisted of 84 pre-service teachers. To determine the pre-service teachers' conceptual understanding of sampling distributions, an…

In this study, which aims to help grade nine students overcome the misconceptions about electric current, we identified their misconceptions about this concept and then designed and implemented a playground activity as an analogy of electric current. Through the conceptual change texts approach, which we have enhanced with experience, we use this…

Refutation texts, rhetorical tools designed to reduce misconceptions, have garnered attention across four decades and many studies. Yet, the ability of a refutation text to change a learner's mind on a topic needs to be qualified and modulated. In this critical review, we bring attention to sources of constraints often overlooked by refutation…

The purpose of this study is to develop the students' skills of change and continuity through activities based on the objects in fourth-grade social studies. In alignment with the scope, an action research design was used in which the researcher is also the executor. A criterion sampling was used for recruitment which resulted in 17 fourth-grade…

In the study, it was aimed to determine the misconceptions of 8th grade students about the concepts of "solid, fluid and gas pressure", to correct these misconceptions by using STEM supported Science activities, and to improve their attitudes towards Science and STEM. The study group consisted of 46 8th grade students at a public school…

Informal learning environments, such as museums, provide unique opportunities for science learning. They are deliberately designed to impact public understanding of science and shape visitors' attitudes and behaviors. As a developing technology, augmented reality (AR) offers the transformative potential to support museums' educational missions by…

This study investigated the effects of the "dance with fruits" analogy on student's alleviation of alternative conceptions among physical sciences high school students in one of the rural province in South Africa. The study used a sequential mixed method research design consisting of quasi-experimental control group pre-test, post-test…

This study, whose purpose is to examine the effect of scientific discussion-oriented activities on eliminating misconceptions in the 'Change of Matter' unit, has been designed in accordance with the action research method. Action research is a research approach that is carried out by practitioners alone or with a researcher to understand and…

The concept of hybridisation is one of the most difficult concepts for chemistry students to grasp at all levels of learning. Research showed the students conceptual difficulty ranged from their lack of the prerequisite knowledge for grasping the topic hybridisation to chemical bond formation and orientations of atomic orbitals. This study…

This study reports an analysis of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) using item response curves (IRC)--the fraction of students selecting each response to an item as a function of their total score. Three large samples (N = 9606, 4360, and 1439) of calculus-based physics students were analyzed. These were drawn from three land-grant institutions…

Newton's third law is one of the most important concepts learned early in introductory mechanics courses; however, ample studies have documented a wide range of students' misconceptions and fragmented understandings of this concept that are difficult to change through traditional instruction. This research develops a conceptual framework model to…