On the basis of the results of two prior studies at the US Naval Academy (USNA), which described the choice of study resources and the self-reported learning approaches of students of differing achievement levels, the current investigation examines how students of differing achievement levels in general chemistry actually solve multiple-choice…

Multiple worldwide efforts, including research experiences and internships for students, have been developed to increase diversity in STEM. In order to understand the outcomes of these research experiences, instruments have become available, but surprisingly, Spanish instruments for these purposes are scarce. The evaluation of diverse scientific…

Numerous diagnostic studies have been conducted on large-scale assessments to illustrate the students' mastery profile in the areas of math and reading; however, for science a limited number of investigations are reported. This study investigated Iranian eighth graders' competency mastery of science and examined the utility of the General…

Educational transformation in the 21st century demands in-depth knowledge and understanding in order to promote the development of higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). However, the most commonly reported problem with respect to developing a knowledge of chemistry is poor mastery of basic concepts. Chemistry laboratory educational activities are…

In Germany, science education standards for students at the end of grade nine have been in existance since 2005. Some of these standards are dedicated to scientific inquiry (e.g. experimentation). They describe which abilities learners are expected to possess at the end of grade nine. In the USA, several documents describe standards for…

In Germany, science education standards for students at the end of grade nine have been in existence since 2005. Some of these standards are dedicated to scientific inquiry (e.g. experimentation). They describe which abilities learners are expected to possess at the end of grade nine. In the USA, several documents describe standards for…

This study evaluated the benefits of item enhancements applied to science-inquiry items for incorporation into an alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards for high school students. Six items were included in the cognitive lab sessions involving both students with and without disabilities. The enhancements (e.g., use of visuals,…

Even if national and international assessments are designed to be comparable, subsequent psychometric analyses often reveal differential item functioning (DIF). Central to achieving comparability is to examine the presence of DIF, and if DIF is found, to investigate its sources to ensure differentially functioning items that do not lead to bias.…

The World Bank 2007 TIMSS Video Study provided a distinctive insight into the practices of the Indonesian classroom and identified key strengths and weaknesses of current teaching. This investigation considered this evidence in the development of a structured lesson design that specifically addressed the instructional practices of the teaching and…

The purpose of the present study is to examine the effectiveness of a metacognitive prompts intervention-science (MPI-S), which is based on the nature of science with 162 eighth-grade science students. It was hypothesised that students exposed to the intervention will show higher levels of content knowledge and knowledge about the nature of…

A qualitative case study was conducted to investigate the understanding of the limiting reagent concept and the strategies used by five Year 11 students when solving four reaction stoichiometry problems. Students' written problem-solving strategies were studied using the think-aloud protocol during problem-solving, and retrospective verbalisations…

The aim of this study was, first, to investigate any pattern between students' quantitative contribution to argumentation and their science understanding, and second, to analyze any relationship between students' qualitative contribution to argumentation and their scientific knowledge. Participants of the study were four tenth-grade students. The…

A problem solving strategy, Thinking Aloud Pair Problem Solving (TAPPS), developed by Arthur Whimbey to help students monitor and understand their own thought process is presented. The TAPPS strategy encouraged the students interact verbally with each other to solve chemistry problems and improve the achievements in chemistry.