In science, one of the most crucial representations for constructing meaning about physical events is graphs. The first graph students encounter in science class is the constant velocity motion graph. Therefore, examining students' understanding of structuring and interpreting these graphs for the relationship between distance, time, and velocity…

This research aimed to understand the features of the informal reasoning skills performed by students who debated the socio-scientific contentious issue of breastfeeding versus milk formula during an Indonesian biology lesson. A class of 30 students in grade 11 discussed this issue by participating in a role play represented by four organisations…

When students were exposed to cognitive conflict and 5E teaching models, this study looked at the impact of cognitive ability on their conceptual change in the particulate nature of matter in physics. With a sample of 195 first-year upper secondary school students, the study used a quasi-experimental design with non-equivalent groups. The data…

Analogies are useful tools for teaching difficult scientific concepts and clearing up learners' misconceptions. However, if not properly used, they can lead to further misconceptions. More importantly, little is known about how science teachers use analogies in Nigerian classrooms. This study assessed science teachers' use of analogies by…

Many research results show that students often highlight "mixed-type" reasoning when tackling problematic situations and problems. This reasoning is based on the simultaneous use of common-sense and mere descriptions of facts, perceived as sufficient to build an "explanation" of observed or proposed situations and problems.…

This paper gives an example of how to address the challenge of designing a learning progression that describes student thinking, with the necessary specificity to align instructional opportunities and assessment tools. We describe the Conceptual Underpinnings of Evolution project and the iterative process of developing a novel learning progression…

In this mixed method study, we analyse the effectiveness of two pedagogical approaches -- one model-based and another non-model-based -- for developing secondary students' understanding of the phenomenon of increase in Earth's average surface temperatures, a core dimension of global climate change (GCC). Building on past research on teaching and…

One crucial characteristic of scientifically literate individuals is making informed decisions in socioscientific issues (SSI). Participants' reasoning patterns and their risk perceptions shape their decisions. Thus, determining participants' informal reasoning patterns along with their risk perceptions while making decisions in SSI becomes…

Research in organic chemistry education has revealed that students often rely on rote memorization when learning mechanisms. Not much is known about student productive resources for causal reasoning. To investigate incipient stages of student causal reasoning about single mechanistic steps of organic reactions, we developed a theoretical framework…

Analogies have been widely used as tools for teaching difficult science concepts. The purposeful use of appropriate analogies can facilitate analogical thinking and help students develop the necessary transfer skills required for lifelong learning. Analogical thinking facilitates the development of higher order thinking skills among students. In…

A growing body of scholarly work indicates that student performance on physics problems stems from many factors, including relevant conceptual understanding. However, in contexts in which significant conceptual difficulties have been documented via research, it can be difficult to pinpoint and isolate such factors because students' written and…

Connection-making among multiple representations is a crucial but difficult competence in STEM learning. Prior research has focused on one type of learning process involved in connection-making: sense-making processes leading to conceptual understanding of connections. Yet, other research suggests that a second type of learning process is…

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…

Connection-making among multiple representations is a crucial but difficult competence in STEM learning. Prior research has focused on one type of learning process involved in connection-making: sense-making processes leading to conceptual understanding of connections. Yet, other research suggests that a second type of learning process is…

Research in Science Education has shown that often students need to learn how to identify differences and similarities between descriptive and explicative models. The development and use of explicative skills in the field of thermal science has always been a difficult objective to reach. A way to develop analogical reasoning is to use in Science…