When students reason during school science, they often refer to conceptions that are derived from out-of-school experiences and are poor proxies for science orthodoxy. However, for some areas of science, these conceptions represent only a proportion of students' full conceptual knowledge, for tacit understanding exists that is superior to the…

Teaching and learning are time-dependant processes. It can be hypothesised that the content coherence during a teaching sequence is an important factor of learning. In this perspective, it is of great interest to follow the occurrences of a notion and the development of its meanings in the classroom discourse, all along the various sessions of a…

The main goal of most physics textbooks is to develop declarative and procedural knowledge. Exercises provide pupils with opportunities to apply this knowledge. However, when confronted with more complicated exercises many pupils experience difficulties in solving them. A computer program about the subject of forces was developed containing hints…