Hooke's law for springs, stating that the force needed to extend or compress a spring by some distance is proportional to that distance, is a topic covered by almost all introductory physics courses at both school and university levels. In this article we present a much more efficient and intuitive approach, compared to the traditional method, for…

A national Task Force of 25 Australian physiology educators used the Delphi protocol to develop seven physiology core concepts that were agreed to nationally. The aim of the current study was to unpack the "physiological adaptation" core concept with the descriptor "organisms adjust and adapt to acute and chronic changes in the…

Abstract concepts dominate university science teaching, and much of this content is taught without sufficient connection to students' prior knowledge or everyday experiences. As this can be problematic for students, the aim of this research was to determine the utility and effectiveness of a professional development module on using analogies to…

Student-generated videos are growing in popularity in education generally, and in chemistry education there are several reports emerging on their use in practice. Interest in their use in chemistry is grounded in the visual nature of chemistry, the role of laboratory work in chemistry, and a desire to enhance digital literacy skills. In this…

Statistical methods are indispensable to the practice of science. But statistical hypothesis testing can seem daunting, with P-values, null hypotheses, and the concept of statistical significance. This article explains the concepts associated with statistical hypothesis testing using the story of "the lady tasting tea," then walks the…

For 12 years, Denise Gillman has taught the course Science on the Stage at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. The plays studied awaken intellectual curiosity and understanding of human nature and complex scientific ideas within the framework of a good story and can do so for students of every major. This article presents how…

The central goal of the present exploratory study was to investigate the nature of the content-related interactions in study groups independently organized by college organic chemistry students. We were particularly interested in the identification of the different factors that affected the emergence of opportunities for students to co-construct…

Processes that transform carbon (e.g., photosynthesis) play a prominent role in college biology courses. Our goals were to learn about student reasoning related to these processes and provide faculty with tools for instruction and assessment. We created a framework illustrating how carbon-transforming processes can be related to one another during…

Traditional multiple-choice concept inventories measure students' critical conceptual understanding and are designed to reveal students' naive or alternate ideas. The overall scores, however, give little information about the state of students' knowledge and the consistency of reasoning. This study investigates whether students have consistent…

Students can have great difficulty reading scientific texts and trying to cope with the professor in the classroom. Part of the reason for students' difficulties is that for a student taking a science gateway course the language, ontology and epistemology of science are akin to a foreign culture. There is thus an analogy between such a student and…

Focuses on efforts to facilitate the development of Master of Education science students' conceptual understanding of content, pedagogy, and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Uses a four-step conceptual process with participants to help them actively construct knowledge about fundamental science concepts and enhance their confidence and…

Probes students' understanding of the relationships between genetic concepts. Identifies alternative conceptions and compartmentalization between related concepts. Argues that genetic instruction in 9th and 12th grade and in college in Israel needs improvement. (Author/MM)

Identifies specific difficulties students had with ionizing radiation and radioactivity using interviews. Explores students' pre-instruction thoughts on these topics. (Author/MM)

Questions why the presentation of evolution in class frequently does not achieve acceptance of evolutionary theory. Suggests using a simple test formulated to try to direct students toward the application of information on evolution to material already familiar to them. Reports positive impact of the questionnaire on student attitudes towards…

Describes a case study of the social construction of knowledge when undergraduate students are engaged in collaborative analysis of repertory grids produced by themselves and their instructor. Results indicate that this approach motivates students to be responsible for their own learning, allows students to communicate their understanding, and…