This study aimed to develop a comprehensive diagnostic tool for assessing upper-secondary school students' understanding of isomers, expanding upon existing two- and three-tier conceptual diagnostic methods. By incorporating 'Confidence Rating Factor' tiers within the answer and reason sections, a four-tier test was designed and developed. This…

Representations constitute an important part of chemistry knowledge. This paper revisits the notion of the term, symbolic, in the chemistry triangle proposed by Johnstone using the theoretical lens of social semiotics. In doing so, this paper proposes a framework of chemistry learning that highlights representational re-description and…

An ability to engage in system thinking is necessary to understand complex problems. While many pre-college students use system modeling tools, there is limited evidence of student reasoning about causal relationships that interact in diverging and converging chains, and how these affect system behavior. A chemistry unit on gas phenomena was…

Students' sense of belonging impacts their affect, motivation, well-being, and academic success. Sense of belonging is considered context-dependent as what determines one's belonging differs across contexts. This study explores how sense of belonging manifests among post-secondary, introductory chemistry students. This context is important given…

The question of precollege physics access and performance has been a persistent concern when considering the goal of diversifying participation in post-secondary STEM study and careers. This observational study examined school-level academic and demographic predictors of high school physics enrollment and performance in the USA. Due to the…

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is the leading education reform worldwide, yet many teachers need more knowledge and confidence to teach integrated STEM. This study examines the initiative of teaching a STEM-integrated approach through the collaboration of mathematics and science university lecturers and preservice…

Use of modeling as a learning strategy in introductory science courses could serve to support the persistence of all students, including those who identify with a traditionally underrepresented ethnic minority (URM). If students find inherent value in working on modeling-type problems then this authentic practice would aid in transforming personal…

The published study of Nurrenbern and Pickering in 1987 raises awareness among chemistry educators that students' success in answering numerical questions does not necessarily reflect their degree of understanding of the related chemical concepts. Efforts have been made to provide more opportunities for students to improve their ability in…

Chemistry, with its related technical applications, is of crucial importance for creating a sustainable future. Without chemistry, current challenges will be difficult to solve. Such problems include meeting most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) announced by the United Nations and adherence to planetary limits, for example, novel…

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate an instrument for measuring Chinese Chemistry Teachers' Perceived Self-Efficacy towards Chemistry Core Competencies. Based on the notion of the 2017 Senior High School Chemistry Curriculum Standards, the initial instrument consisted of 20 items in five CCCs as the distinct constructs were…

High school students learn the basic voltaic and electrolytic cell concepts during their last year prior to entering an undergraduate teacher-education science degree. During the 4 years of university, students complete a sequence of topics designed to build on conceptual understanding presented in previous years. At the end of their degrees,…

In this study, 271 pre- and in-service science teachers in Israel were surveyed on their level of awareness about green chemistry and sustainability, as well as attitudes toward environmental education. Of the total participants, 123 were in-service science teachers with different seniority levels teaching in elementary, middle, and high schools.…

In this paper, we introduce and discuss a construct called "graphical forms," an extension of Sherin's symbolic forms. In its original conceptualization, symbolic forms characterize the ideas students associate with patterns in a mathematical expression. To expand symbolic forms beyond only characterizing mathematical equations, we use…

The study aims to analyze student responses to chemistry constructed response items to obtain detailed information on science NAEA (National Assessment of Educational Achievement) in South Korea and to draw suggestions for enhancing curriculum, teaching, and learning. For this purpose, we analyzed 7444 answers that could be generalized as 1.29% of…

A coherent curriculum that clearly defines sets of ideas that build upon one another to meet desired learning goals can successfully support the development of meaningful understanding across time. This study explores the influence of a coherent curriculum as a systematic approach to aligning and sequencing specific ideas to support students in…