We present two studies to investigate the extent to which attending a planetarium presentation increases secondary school students' understanding of the apparent motion of the Sun and stars. In the first study, we used the Apparent Motion of Sun and Stars (AMoSS) test in a pretest/post-test/retention test setting to measure learning gains and…

In physics education, a number of studies have developed assessments of teachers' knowledge of student understanding (KSU) of specific physics concepts with modified versions of existing concept inventories, in which teachers were asked to predict the popular incorrect answers from students. The results provide useful but indirect information to…

This study undertook iconicity ratings and conducted transparency experiments on Israeli Sign Language (ISL). Experiment 1 compared the iconicity ratings of 520 lexical signs of ten Deaf ISL signers and thirteen hearing non-signers. Ratings were found to be affected by language knowledge, lexical class, and type of iconic mapping, as well as by…

We investigated to what extent secondary school students have insight in the apparent motion of the Sun and stars (AMoSS). We used the AMoSS test instrument, which focuses on distinctions between different aspects of the apparent motion of the Sun and stars. It consists of 12 multiple-choice questions accompanied by explanations. We administered…

This article examines young children's conceptualisation of the images they encounter within the familiar environments of the home and community settings, focusing on case study data from two, 4-year-old children. The data discussed are taken from a study involving a group of children aged 4-5 years. A participatory mapping approach was adopted,…

Jigsaw-IV Problem-solving method is innovative active learning instruction used to improve college student's learning. The main purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of Jigsaw-IV problem-solving instruction on preservice physics teachers' (PSPT) procedural knowledge in college of teacher education in the Southern nation nationality…

The aim of the present study is to explore on the alternative conceptions of impetus theory and projectile motion of students with high functioning autism spectrum disorders and compare them with those of typical development. For this purpose, an experimental investigation was conducted with 19 students with high-functioning autism (age range:…

Student-generated drawings are known to be effective in building and revealing students' conceptions of chemistry. Some chemistry concepts, moreover, include changes and processes that cannot be merely represented by static drawings. Computer-based animations are needed to represent the dynamics. In this study, 25 chemistry student teachers, who…

Proposing scientific descriptions is critical for individuals to cope with daily problems and acquire essential information. Nonetheless, few classes have enhanced students' ability to describe facts of scientific phenomena. Thus, using a tool of technology-based laboratory, this research examined whether students' scientific descriptions and…

Students' responses to energy & momentum (EM) concepts were investigated. EM concepts are fundamental and crosscutting in physics. A standardized Energy and Momentum Conceptual Survey (EMCS) test were used to collect quantitative data from 108 first year science students enrolled in a university in Ethiopia. Concentration analysis was used to…

Students' graph comprehension may be affected by the background of the students who are the readers or interpreters of the graph, their knowledge of the context in which the graph is set, and the inferential processes required by the graph operation. This research study investigated these aspects of graph comprehension for 152 first year…

The study explored grade 12 students' understanding of reaction kinetics, a topic which has not been extensively explored in the chemistry education literature at this level. A 3-tier diagnostic instrument with 11 questions was developed--this format is of very recent origin and has been the subject of only a handful of studies. The findings…

We have investigated whether and how a categorization of responses to questions on linear distance-time graphs, based on a study of Irish students enrolled in an algebra-based course, could be adopted and adapted to responses from students enrolled in calculus-based physics courses at universities in Flanders, Belgium (KU Leuven) and the Basque…

This paper explores how a group of undergraduate Human Movement Studies (HMS) students learnt to know about the body during their four-year academic programme at an Australian university. When students begin an undergraduate programme in HMS they bring with them particular constructions, ideas and beliefs about their own bodies and about the body…

Animation can be used for various purposes such as for procedural and motor skill learning (i.e., dance, sports, and motor rehabilitation). In the context of visual design, this study explores the possible influence of realism (levels of visual detail) in animation at the cognitive stage of motor skill acquisition. Students (N = 64) with low-prior…