Despite relatively recent, higher education has evolved into a consolidated field of study. This paper examines how this field evolved in Portugal. The goal was to understand when it first appeared, how it evolved over time, which scientific areas was it associated with, and what have been its main objects of study. Tight's classification of…

Water is one of the most common molecules in the universe. Water is polarized, but it has many states besides the normal tetrahedron depicted in standard biology texts. Water is also the most ubiquitous molecule on Earth, the universal solvent. It is the internal and external habitat of cells. Ecologically, water is contiguous with life and the…

Previous research has shown that students employ intuitive thinking when understanding scientific concepts. Three types of intuitive thinking--essentialist, teleological, and anthropic thinking--are used in biology learning and can lead to misconceptions. However, it is unknown how commonly these types of intuitive thinking, or cognitive…

Genetic variation is historically challenging for undergraduate students to master, potentially due to its grounding in both evolution and genetics. Traditionally, student expertise in genetic variation has been evaluated using Key Concepts. However, Cognitive Construals may add to a more nuanced picture of students' developing expertise. Here, we…

Holism evolution states that although energy, matter, life, consciousness and the human personality are independent and different substances/levels of evolution, they are holistically and intimately related. This paper presents the findings from teaching chemistry to high school science students and post-graduate university science-education…

Photosynthesis is the predominant metabolic process for energy obtention in plants. Here we describe a case study where a set of anatomical, biochemical, and molecular characters are used to reconstruct the evolution of the C[subscript 4] photosynthetic pathway, within the evolutionary framework provided by the genus "Flaveria." Our main…

This research aims to investigate the existential identity of creativity in Islamic philosophy. In order to achieve the goals of the research, the analytical-inferential method has been used. The findings of the research showed that Mullah Sadra considers creativity as a part of the human soul, that is, he considers it as one of the platforms for…

Researchers who study student acceptance of evolution rely on surveys that are designed to measure evolution acceptance. It is important for these surveys to measure evolution acceptance accurately and in isolation from other constructs, so that researchers can accurately determine what leads to low acceptance. The Inventory of Student Evolution…

Multidimensionality is common in psychological and educational measurements. This study focuses on dimensions that converge at the upper anchor (i.e. the highest acquisition status defined in a learning progression) and compares different ways of dealing with them using the multidimensional random coefficients multinomial logit model and scale…

Students with religious beliefs often find it difficult to accept the theory of evolution. It is important that educators feel comfortable addressing student questions on the compatibility of evolution and religion. We designed an online professional development course that taught the foundational principles of both evolution and religion in order…

This essay offers a rationale for deploying ecofeminist science fiction stories as object-oriented thought experiments in science and environmental education, with particular reference to developments in genetics and evolutionary biology, and their implications for human (and more-than-human) reproduction and kinship in the period following the…

There is a renewed scientific interest in the role of childhood in human evolution, pointing to the explorative phase of a human's life history that shapes how children learn and develop. This study presents a synthesis from evolutionary sciences that considers biases in childhood learning through activities in play, exploration, and social…

Despite widespread misunderstandings, B.F. Skinner did not ignore creativity. The present article first integrates Skinner's writings with some current research in creativity that focuses on the role of near associations in creative innovations. Next, Skinner's writings are integrated with the role of the unconscious in creativity, including some…

The Red Queen effect takes its name from a scene in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass," where Alice and the Red Queen are constantly running, yet remain in the same place relative to one another. In competitive ecosystems, this translates to the idea that, "in order to survive, a technology solution must evolve faster just…

Jenna Scaramanga and Michael Reiss, in their article, "Evolutionary Stasis: Creationism, Evolution and Climate Change in the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum," examine multiple editions of science materials produced by Accelerated Christian Education, ranging from the 1980s to the 2010s. They find that the materials offer a…