Students come to their high school physics classroom with experiences and knowledge that can be used to help explain physics concepts, but those experiences may not fully align with the scientifically accepted science concept. When there is a misalignment between a student's prior knowledge and the scientifically accepted concept a misconception…

The aim of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the cognitive, noncognitive, and sociodemographic barriers affecting the enrollment of General Educational Development (GED) holders in higher education in Alabama. The researcher sought to understand these barriers, focusing on poor academic performance, negative emotions,…

Conspiracy thinking among college students is an under-investigated phenomenon. People who work with college students may seek to reduce conspiracy thinking among students or consider ways to work with those students better. This study provides insight into how well various personality factors predict conspiracy thinking among college students.…

While interactivity is regarded as a distinguishing characteristic of computer technology, the explanation on its impact remains in its infancy. The present research investigates what it means to provide a more (or less) interactive computer interface design by attempting to uncover its cognitive influences on the user's expectation of outcome and…

The purpose of this study is to examine the proportional reasoning of pre-service teachers at the beginning of their teacher preparation program using the developmental shifts described by Lobato and Ellis (2010). They cast changes in proportional reasoning as transitions or "shifts" in students' thinking and these shifts can serve as…

Global Warming ("GW") is easily one of the most pressing concerns of our time, and its solution will come about only through a change in human behavior. Compared to the residents of most other nations worldwide, Americans report lower acceptance of the realities of GW. In order to address this concern in a free society, U.S. residents…

Students who harbor misconceptions often find chemistry difficult to understand. To improve teaching about the dissolving process, first semester introductory chemistry students were asked to complete a free-response questionnaire on writing balanced equations for dissolving ionic compounds in water. To corroborate errors and misconceptions…

Even 150 years after Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," public school teachers still find themselves dealing with student resistance to learning about biological evolution. Some teachers deal with this pressure by undermining, deemphasizing, or even omitting the topic in their science curriculum. Others face the…

Teacher compensation reforms have been on the rise in recent years, yet research has yet to fully demonstrate how teachers interpret these policies and how they may influence their instructional practices and professional decisions. This qualitative study of a performance pay program in an urban district in Texas drew on cognitive approaches to…