The central goal of this study was to characterize the mental models of acids and acid strength expressed by advanced college chemistry students when engaged in prediction, explanation, and justification tasks that asked them to rank chemical compounds based on their relative acid strength. For that purpose we completed a qualitative research…

Presents the results of a study on questions invoked to correct declarative knowledge deficits while readers processed science texts explaining natural phenomena. Focuses on finding out what kind of questions are asked by students who read these texts and how task demand influences the quantity and quality of formulated questions. (Contains 42…

Investigated is the extent to which students' nonscientific beliefs change by comparing before and after instruction as a function of students' reasoning skill. Nonscientific beliefs discussed include special creation, orthogenesis, the soul, nonreductionism, vitalism, teleology, and nonemergentism. (KR)

Investigates the effect of a directed-inquiry approach to learning science process skills and scientific problem solving in the high school biology laboratory. Reports no main effect of the approach but an interaction effect of the approach and cognitive development. (Author/YP)