Cosmology concepts encompass complex spatial and temporal relations that are counterintuitive. Cosmology findings, because of their intrinsic interest, are often reported in the public domain with enthusiasm, and students come to cosmology with a range of conceptions some aligned and some at variance with the current science. This makes cosmology…

Teachers lack effective curriculum-based instruments to assess their students' scientific competence that would provide information for modifying their inquiry instruction. The main purpose of this study was to develop and validate a Curriculum-Based Scientific Competence (CBSC) test to assess students' scientific competence in a 1-semester Grade…

Surveying is a common methodology in science education research, including cross-national and cross-cultural comparisons. The literature surrounding students' attitudes toward science, in particular, illustrates the prevalence of efforts to translate instruments with the eventual goal of comparing groups. This paper utilizes survey data from a…

Scientific models and modeling play an important role in science, and students' understanding of scientific models is essential for their understanding of scientific concepts. The measurement instrument of "Students' Understanding of Models in Science" (SUMS), developed by Treagust, Chittleborough & Mamiala ("International…

This study describes the development and validation of a Greek-language instrument that can be used to assess grade 10 students' perceptions of their chemistry classroom environment as a means of showing differences between chemistry learning environments in Greece (Attica) and Cyprus. The development of the instrument was based on available…

A model of reading comprehension of geometric proofs (RCGP) has recently been proposed by the authors. This article further investigates students' development of such comprehension based on this model, looking at the relationship between students' reading comprehension and their prior knowledge and logical reasoning. The results show that (1)…