The purpose of this study is to "meta"-analytically evaluate research that used chemical bonding-based interventions to improve academic performance. Through "meta"-analysis, the present study used several keyword patterns (e.g., chemical bonding, experimental, chemistry education, science education) via relevant databases…

[This paper is part of the "Focused Collection on Instructional Labs: Improving Traditions and New Directions."] Recent studies provide evidence that social constructivist pedagogical methods such as active learning, interactive engagement, and inquiry-based learning, while pedagogically more effective, can enable inequities in the…

The main objective of this intervention study was to investigate the effect of three teaching approaches, namely the traditional teaching method (TTM), a teacher-based demonstration experiment (TBDE) and a student hands-on experiment (SHE), on students' academic performance. A total number of 324 senior five students studying chemistry as one of…

Understanding experimental design (e.g. control of variable strategy or CVS) is foundational for scientific reasoning. Previous research has demonstrated that demonstrations with cognitive conflict (e.g. asking students to evaluate and explain different experimental designs) are effective in promoting children's scientific reasoning, however, the…

Floating and sinking (FS) is a key topic in science education, both at primary and secondary levels. The interpretation of FS phenomena, however, is challenging due to the difficulty of the scientific concepts and explanatory models involved (e.g., density, buoyancy), along with students' everyday experiences, which conflict with scientific…