This article introduces a flexible and easy-to-implement open-ended scientific inquiry activity called the Paper Towels Challenge. After experimentally determining which of three unbranded paper towels is the most absorbent, students discuss their results and methods. The teacher facilitates the discussion of epistemological issues. This activity…

Peer-led team learning is a socially mediated pedagogy where trained peer leaders, students who have completed a course, return to lead students in groups within a targeted course. The effect of peer-led team learning to improve student success in chemistry has been extensively documented but it is unclear if it is just as effective at…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Instructional labs: Improving traditions and new directions.] National organizations set goals of engaging students in experimentation and authentic scientific reasoning while developing normative concepts to help them develop essential skills and competencies necessary to succeed in our rapidly…

Aim/Purpose: The objective of this study is to explore the effectiveness of using virtual experiments on students' level of achievement and on their practical skills as well as their views on applying the virtual experiments in a general physics lab. Background: There is a continuous debate in the literature on the effect of using virtual…

Acid-base chemistry is a foundational topic that is taught in courses across the chemistry curriculum. Students often have difficulty distinguishing between the different theories of acid-base chemistry--Brønsted-Lowry and Lewis acid-base chemistry--and applying these two definitions correctly in unfamiliar scenarios. To help students learn these…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of traditional versus guided inquiry (with problem-solving process and cognitive function training) on high school chemistry knowledge, science process skills, scientific attitudes, and problem-solving competency. Two classes of students were recruited from three classes of Grade 11…

This study focused on the correlation of mastery in basic process skills and attitude toward Science to grade 7 students' performance. From the 200 respondents 74% or most of the students are normally in the age bracket for Grade 7 students which is 11 to 12. One hundred one (101) respondents or 50.5 % of the total respondents are male while 99…

This study tested the hypothesis that exploratory learning, with and without analogous problems, would improve students' ability to make connections between conceptually-related topics. In this randomized experiment, undergraduates in introductory physics (N = 171) studied a new topic under three different instructional conditions. Order and type…

This study explored student abilities in applying conceptual knowledge when presented with structured performance tasks. Specifically, the study gauged proficiency in higher-order applications of students enrolled in earth and environmental science or biology. The student sample was drawn from a Redesigned STEM high school model where a tested…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) measures student science achievement nationally, state by state, and, most recently, across selected urban school districts. Periodically, the framework underlying the science assessment is revised or updated. This document, "Science Framework for the 2019 National Assessment of…

The "TIMSS 2019 Assessment Frameworks" provides the foundation for the four international assessments that comprise the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA's) TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) 2019: TIMSS Mathematics--Fourth Grade, TIMSS Mathematics--Eighth Grade, TIMSS…

Graphing subjects in chemistry has been used to provide alternatives to verbal and algorithmic descriptions of a subject by handing students another way of improving their manipulation of concepts. Teachers should therefore know the level of students' graphing skills. Studies have identified that students have difficulty making connections with…

Although the effects of open inquiry vs. more didactic approaches have been studied extensively, the effects of different types of inquiry have not received as much attention. We examined the effects of guided vs. structured inquiry on secondary students' learning of science. Students from three schools in north-eastern Thailand participated…

The inadequacy of experimental activities (or lack of equipment) in science courses in rural parts of Turkey negatively effects students' acquisition of scientific thinking and inquiry skills. The fact that success rates are notably low in international assessments demonstrates the necessity to adopt "different" approaches apart from the…

The purpose of this study was primarily to explore high school students' cognitive structures and to identify their learning difficulties on ethanoic acid through the flow map method. The subjects of this study were 30 grade 1 students from Dong Yuan Road Senior High School in Xi'an, China. The interviews were conducted a week after the students…