The Joint Educational Project's (JEP) STEM Education Programs at the University of Southern California (USC) present an elementary-level curriculum centered on the science of stem cells in partnership with Dr. Adam MacLean, an Assistant Professor of Quantitative and Computational Biology at USC for the broader impacts of a National Science…

In science education, there is a now established focus on fostering students' meaning making through/as multimodal representations as part of their induction into the epistemic practices of the discipline. Increasingly, this agenda is aligned with an emphasis on nurturing students' creative reasoning, as researchers move to enrich theories of…

Today, teaching strategies and methods changing with technology require a radical transformation in the teaching of science laws, which form the basis of science subjects. In this study, computational thinking skills, which will allow students to use information and communication technologies in today's conditions and the effect of these skills on…

The three-dimensional nature of macromolecules is often difficult for undergraduate students to grasp. This leads to difficulties in understanding key concepts in Biochemistry, such as protein function and conformational change. Virtual reality (VR) technologies, which can aid students in three-dimensional visualizations, have been shown to…

This study revamps and optimizes the teaching and learning process and instrument for the classic binary vapor-liquid equilibrium experiment by combining activity coefficient model simulations and practical exercises. Our teaching process combines a software simulation and practical exercises. Utilizing Aspen software, students can predict phase…

Biochemistry and molecular biology students are asked to understand and analyze the structures of small molecules and complex three-dimensional (3D) macromolecules. However, most tools to help students learn molecular visualization skills are limited to two-dimensional (2D) images on screens and in textbooks. The virtual reality (VR) App Nanome,…

Based on the pedagogical principle of cognitive conflict, Inquiry-Based Laboratory Activities (IBLAs) have been shown to improve conceptual understanding of challenging science and engineering topics. Yet, providing students physical apparatuses to complete an IBLA is not tenable in every instructional setting. This paper reports design,…

It is essential for introductory level chemistry students to understand atomic models and how atoms interact to form chemical bonds. The tactile model in this article utilizes marbles to represent subatomic particles, a cup to represent the nucleus and wooden rings to simulate the electron orbitals. These inexpensive items can be combined to…

Online scientific argumentation activities have significant value for students' cognitive ability. The purpose of this study was to solve the issues of online scientific argumentation. Firstly, the influences of online scientific argumentation were classified into "Learn to Argue" and "Argue to Learn" abilities. And then the…

In inquiry-based science lessons teachers face the challenge of adhering to curricular goals while simultaneously following students' intuitive understandings. Improvisation (improv) provides a useful frame for understanding teaching in these inquiry-based contexts. This paper builds from prior work that uses improv as a metaphor for teaching to…

We present and analyze video data of upper secondary school students' engagement with a computer-supported collaborative learning environment that enables them to explore astronomical phenomena (Keplerian motion). The students' activities have an immersive and exploratory character, as students engage in open-ended inquiry and interact physically…

This paper is about "augmented reality" (AR) and its potentials to support students in handling scientific representations. For this purpose, first representations are examined from a science educational and instructional psychology perspective. After giving a short overview of AR in general and how it can be delineated from…

Practicum based learning is required to provide opportunities for students in finding and applying concepts by observation. Student worksheets with a discovery learning model and equipped with AR video are needed as a learning tool, so students will be able to have good work in the laboratory and implementation of the practicum is effective. This…

Developing the problem-solving abilities of elementary school students has been recognized as an important educational objective. Science curricula, because of their practical and experimental characteristics, are thought to be an important way to develop students' problem-solving ability. The use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology in teaching…

Writing and balancing equations of chemical reactions is one of the most difficult elements of chemistry education for students, which is why it was decided to analyse part of the process which is the most difficult. The process itself consists of multiple stages. it is important to highlight that the focus of research was not only on balancing…