Analyzing and interpreting data is an important science practice that contributes toward the construction of models from data; yet, there is evidence that students may struggle with making meaning of data. The study reported here focused on characterizing students' approaches to analyzing rate and concentration data in the context of method of…

There is growing evidence of persistent gender achievement gaps in university physics instruction, not only for learning physics content, but also for developing productive attitudes and beliefs about learning physics. These gaps occur in both traditional and interactive-engagement (IE) styles of physics instruction. We investigated one gender gap…

The present study used the Cognitive Reconstruction of Knowledge Model (CRKM) model of conceptual change as a framework for developing and testing how key cognitive, motivational, and emotional variables are linked to conceptual change in physics. This study extends an earlier study developed by Taasoobshirazi and Sinatra ("J Res Sci…

There is much agreement among chemical education researchers that expertise in chemistry depends in part on the ability to coordinate understanding of phenomena on three levels: macroscopic (observable), sub-microscopic (atoms, molecules, and ions) and symbolic (chemical equations, graphs, etc.). We hypothesize this "level-coordination…

This study used a series of text message inquiries sent to General Chemistry students asking: "Have you studied for General Chemistry I in the past 48 hours? If so, how did you study?" This method for collecting data is novel to chemistry education research so the first research goals were to investigate the feasibility of the technique…

Student-centered learning environments with upside-down pedagogies (SCALE-UP) are widely implemented at institutions across the country, and learning gains from these classrooms have been well documented. This study investigates the specific design feature(s) of the SCALE-UP classroom most conducive to teaching and learning. Using pilot survey…

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of mobile technology use in university science instruction on students' academic achievement and self-regulation skills. An experimental study is conducted to test the use of mobile in-class interaction system (M-CIS) and to determine the change in students' academic achievement and self-regulation…

A questionnaire with 22 Likert type items was developed to collect cross-sectional data from university chemistry students of different study years (N = 118). The aim was to obtain information on their learning approaches as well as their study preferences. Students willing to change from their major subject to medical education represented a…

Studies comparing virtual and physical manipulative environments (VME and PME) in inquiry-based science learning have mostly focused on students' learning outcomes but not on the actual processes they engage in during the learning activities. In this paper, we examined experimentation strategies in an inquiry activity and their relation to…

We investigated the effect of modeling and visualization resources on upper-division, undergraduate and graduate students' performance on an open-ended assessment of their understanding of physical hydrology. The students were enrolled in one of five sections of a physical hydrology course. In two of the sections, students completed homework…

Many college students struggle with first-semester general chemistry. Prior studies have shown that a student's prior knowledge of chemistry, a cognitive factor, does not account for the total variance when measured by examination scores. This study explored the role of self-regulated learning (SRL) to identify the degree of success or failure of…

We surveyed first year students at the start and at the end of their first semester of university biology (n = 285) as to their approaches to study ("surface", "deep") and their conceptions of biology ("fragmented", "cohesive"). Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to group students who responded similarly…

Results of a study designed to determine the effectiveness of implementing three-dimensional (3D) stereo images of a human skull in an undergraduate human anatomy online laboratory were gathered and analysed. Mental model theory and its applications to 3D relationships are discussed along with the research results. Quantitative results on 62 pairs…