Modern evolutionary theory is both a central theory and an integrative framework of the life sciences. This is reflected in the common references to evolution in modern science education curricula and contexts. In fact, evolution is a core idea that is supposed to support biology learning by facilitating the organization of relevant knowledge. In…

As students increasingly use online chemistry animations and simulations, it is becoming more important to understand how students independently engage with such materials and to develop a set of best practices for students' use of these resources outside of the classroom. Most of the literature examining students' use of animations and…

In this reply to Elon Langbeheim's response to an article recently published in this journal, authors Smith and Villarreal identify several types of general chemistry students' misconceptions concerning the concept of particle position during physical change. They focus their response on one of the misconceptions identified as such: Given a solid…

Students' understanding of the orbital concept has been subject to considerable research and debate and often found at variance with a quantum mechanical ideal. Could it be the case that orbitals as actually used by practising chemists in teaching and research also differ from that ideal? Our experience shows that this might often be the case.…

Increased national and international attention towards early childhood education has resulted in the development of an Australian "Early Years Learning Framework" (EYLF) called "Belonging, Being and Becoming" (DEEWR, 2009) for realising agreed practice, principles and outcomes. The EYLF highlights the importance of educators…

In this study, the effect of animation enhanced conceptual change texts (CCT-CA) on grade 6 students' understanding of the particulate nature of matter (PNM) and transformation during the phase changes was investigated. A quasi-experimental design and one control group (CG, N = 25) and one experimental group (EG, N = 26) were used. While the…

Electrochemistry is found to be a difficult topic to learn due to its abstract concepts that involve three representation levels. Research showed that animation and simulation using Information and Communication Technology can help students to visualize and thus enhance students' understanding in learning abstract chemistry topics. As a result, an…

This study reports research findings on the use of animated cartoons in a multimedia application meant to evaluate their effectiveness in supporting teaching and learning in science. The researchers have developed a cartoon-style multimedia application whereas animated cartoons where designed from scratch using appropriate programs. The study was…

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of instructional materials for the subject of classification of matter as solids, liquids and gases that were developed using a holistic instructional design model on student achievement. In the study a pre-test/post-test with control group experimental design was used. The study was conducted in the…

Animations of molecular structure and dynamics are often used to help students understand the abstract ideas of chemistry. This qualitative study investigated how the features of two different styles of molecular-level animation affected students' explanations of how sodium chloride dissolves in water. In small group sessions 18 college-level…