Some of the online explainer videos for physics present misconceptions as scientifically correct explanations. Even so, some of these videos achieve good ratings on online platforms. A possible reason is that explainer videos with misconceptions foster an "illusion of understanding"--the mistaken belief that a topic has been understood.…

Scientific literacy is one of the basic competencies that must be possessed in the XXI century. These competencies include explaining scientific phenomena, designing and evaluating scientific investigations, and interpreting scientific data and facts. These three competency indicators must be embedded in students to help them to solve problems and…

The present study elaborates on a domain-specific approach to NOS (Nature Of Science) and employs a NOTSs (Nature Of The Sciences) agenda to investigate how Greek in-service physics teachers understand the unique features of school physics and biology. Our theoretical framework focuses on the notion of worldview and important differences that…

Even graduate physics students have many misconceptions about basic wave optics phenomena. This suggests that there is much room for improvement of the traditional wave optics curriculum. An effective way for initiating a curriculum change is to reconsider and revise the expected learning outcomes and corresponding assessment instruments. By…

Using a conventional notation for representing forces on diagrams, students were presented with questions on the interaction between two objects. The results show that complete understanding of Newton's Third Law of Motion is quite rare, and that some problems relate to misunderstanding which force acts on each body. The use of the terms…

The topic of pressure and buoyancy is one that encompasses both invisible and abstract conceptions and about which students have misconceptions. The purpose of this research was to research the effectiveness of three different methods of teaching physics (conceptual change-based, real life context-based and traditional learning on upper-secondary…

The study identified the different cultural concepts that secondary school students' believe in and determined the belief and idea of students about the cultural concepts. It also investigated students' source of information about the cultural concepts and determined the influence of these cultural believes on students' academic performance in…

Changing student conceptions in physics is a difficult process and has been a topic of research for many years. The purpose of this study was to understand what prompted students to change or not change their incorrect conceptions of Newtons Second or Third Laws in response to an intervention, Interactive Video Vignettes (IVVs), designed to…

Nuclear science has uses and applications that are relevant and crucial for world peace and sustainable development, so knowledge of its basic concepts and topics should constitute an integral part of civic scientific literacy. We have used two newspaper articles that deal with uses of nuclear science that are directly relevant to life, society,…

There is ongoing interest in how and what we teach in physics courses for non-science students, so-called "physics for poets" courses. Art Hobson has effectively argued that teaching science literacy should be a key ingredient in these courses. Hobson uses Jon Millers definition of science literacy, which has two components: first, "a basic…

The authors aimed to propose a valid and reliable diagnostic instrument by developing a three-tier test on simple electric circuits. Based on findings from the interviews, open-ended questions, and the related literature, the test was developed and administered to 124 high school students. In addition to some qualitative techniques for…

Research on conceptual change assumes that students enter a science classroom with prior(mis-)conceptions. When being exposed to instruction, students are supposed to develop or change their conceptions to (more) scientific concepts. As a consequence, instruction typically concentrates on appropriate examples demonstrating that students'…

Indicates the importance of science literacy in the population. Makes recommendations for a successful liberal arts science course such as using an interactive inquiry oriented approach and including recent scientific views. (YDS)

Discusses incidents of brush-ins with student proponents of the theory of creation science. Provides and answers eight questions typical of both the misinformation spread in creation science literature and the lack of research done by students. (MVL)

Explores the role played by the conceptual structure of science in scientific literacy. Examines the role of scientific models in scientific literacy. (ZWH)