A systematic literature review across multiple scientific disciplines was conducted to explore students' understanding of atomic structure, focusing on students' ACs. A total of 112 publications between 1972 and 2023 were selected for the study. Within the selected body of literature, 851 instances of ACs were distributed across students ranging…

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…

Although researchers have extensively studied student conceptions of radioactivity, the conceptions held by preservice teachers on this subject are largely absent from the literature. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of problem-centered interviews with preservice teachers (N=13) to establish which conceptions are held by preservice…

The purpose of this study is to determine pre-service chemistry teachers' knowledge of the oxidation number and coordination number in coordination compounds. Data were collected from 31 pre-service chemistry teachers through a 4-question scale, and the second question of the scale consisted of 8 sub-questions. The results showed that the…

In a study of student understanding of negative definite integrals at two institutions, we administered a written survey and follow-up clinical interviews at one institution and found that "backward integrals", where the integral was taken from right to left on the x-axis, were the most difficult for students to interpret. We then…

No scientific concept in the twenty-first century has garnered more attention from scholars outside the scientific community than the Anthropocene. Despite the official rejection by the geological community in March 2024 of the proposal for an Anthropocene Epoch as a formal unit of the Geological Time Scale, it is expected to remain an invaluable…

Research reveals that teachers regularly refer to intuitive construals (IC) in formal science education. Only a few studies, however, have investigated why teachers refer to them. Alarmingly, these studies suggest didactic consideration is not the main reason for this. Instead, teachers introduce IC unintentionally or due to a lack of expertise. A…

Understanding the photosynthesis concepts is challenging due to its abstract nature, often leading to student misconceptions. This study aims to identify and analyze misconceptions among science and social studies students using the image analysis method. A total of 78 students (32 science, 46 social studies) participated, selected through a…

Statement-verification studies indicate the coexistence of intuitive conceptions and scientific concepts within learners. The underlying assumption is that the intuitive conceptions typically built in childhood never disappear, but are co-activated with scientific concepts when we face relevant situations. This is visible in increased reaction…

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…

Explaining biological phenomena requires understanding how different processes function and describing interactions between components at various levels of organization over time and space in biological systems. This is a desired competency yet is a complicated and often challenging task for undergraduate biology students. Therefore, we need a…

Spectroscopic methods of molecular structure identification and analysis constitute part of inorganic, organic, analytical, and physical chemistry in both undergraduate and postgraduate chemistry curricula. Despite the importance and complexity of the relevant concepts, it is only recently that studies on spectroscopy have started to appear in the…

The "Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education" report establishes a set of five core concepts that students should build an understanding of throughout college biology programs. While student conceptual understanding is well studied in 4-year contexts, there are minimal studies in community college contexts. Community…

The purpose of this case study, informed by a Lakatosian perspective, is to identify how an alternative conception that originates in present learning but is related directly to subsequent learning contexts can be constructed. Before the study, one of the authors found by accident that a student who had learned about Avogadro's principle and…

In natural science education, experiments often lead to the collection of raw data that need to be processed into results by doing calculations. Teaching students how to approach such calculations can be done using digital learning materials that provide guidance. The goal of this study was to investigate students' behaviour regarding the use of…