Analysis of results from research in cognitive science and discipline-based education in recent years suggests that student thinking and learning can be better understood and investigated by adopting a systemic perspective that recognizes the complex and dynamic interactions taking place within and across multiple interconnected and interdependent…

This study used a cluster randomized controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of two approaches to increasing middle school students' science learning when using an inquiry-based science curriculum. Eighty-nine schools, with 253 teachers and 20,591 students, were randomly assigned into one of three conditions: (a) a treatment condition in…

Practice effects are ubiquitous human phenomena that have been scientifically studied for over half a century. They are also among the most directly applicable psychological phenomenon, holding broad implications for any domain involving human expertise, and especially for education. Yet the details of how practice works to improve performance are…

Cognitive science research on learning and instruction is often not directly connected to discipline-based research. In an effort to narrow this gap, this essay integrates research from both fields on five learning and instruction strategies: active retrieval, distributed (spaced) learning, dual coding, concrete examples, and feedback and…

This manuscript addresses the potential role of geoscience education research in understanding geoscience expert practice. We note the similarity between the perception-action framework of Ulric Neisser (Neisser, 1976) and the observation-prediction framework used by geoscience practitioners. The consilience between these two approaches is that…

"Vision and Change" challenged biology instructors to develop evidence-based instructional approaches that were grounded in the core concepts and competencies of biology. This call for reform provides an opportunity for new educational tools to be incorporated into biology education. In this essay, we advocate for learning progressions…

This study investigates, through a cluster-randomized trial, the effectiveness of two approaches to increasing middle school students' science learning using a traditional science curriculum. Ninety schools were randomly assigned into one of three arms: (a) a treatment arm in which the textbook curriculum was modified based on four principles of…

Finding better ways to implement effective teaching and learning strategies in higher education is urgently needed to help address student outcomes such as retention rates, graduation rates, and learning. Psychologists contribute to the science and art of teaching and learning in higher education under many flags, including cognitive psychology,…

Prior studies have shown that students have difficulty understanding the role of mutation in evolution and genetics. However, little is known about unifying themes underlying students' difficulty with mutation. In this study, we examined students' written explanations about mutation from a cognitive science perspective. According to one cognitive…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Curriculum Development: Theory into Design.] This paper discusses the theoretical framework and curriculum materials that form the basis of the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach to learning and teaching physics. ISLE, as a philosophical approach to learning, has two core…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Curriculum Development: Theory into Design.] Research in physics education has contributed substantively to improvements in the learning and teaching of university physics by informing the development of research-based instructional materials for physics courses. Reports on the design of these…

This special issue of "International Journal of Science Education" is based on the theme "Conceptual Metaphor and Embodied Cognition in Science Learning." The idea for this issue grew out of a symposium organized on this topic at the conference of the European Science Education Research Association (ESERA) in September 2013.…

Reported are the results of a multiyear study in which reading comprehension and writing were integrated within an in-depth science instructional model (Science IDEAS) in daily 1.5 to 2 h daily lessons on a schoolwide basis in grades 3-4-5. Multilevel (HLM7) achievement findings showed the experimental intervention resulted in significant and…

We investigated whether three student-centred strategies influenced retention of science vocabulary words among 7th grade students. Two of the strategies (drawing pictures and talking about the definition of the terms) were developed to involve the students in more constructive and interactive exercises when compared to the technique that was in…

In this article I examine three examples of philosophical theories of scientific representation with the aim of assessing which of these is a good candidate for a philosophical theory of scientific representation in science learning. The three candidate theories are Giere's intentional approach, Suárez's inferential approach and Lynch and…