This study focuses on the relationship between students' use of language resources and their conceptualisation of phenomena in producing scientific explanations in physics. The objectives are to find out if there is a general model that describe the meaning-making process, the extent that this model is applicable to various branches in physics.…

This study aimed to analyze second-semester organic chemistry students' problem-solving strategies, specifically focusing on the resources activated while solving problems on E2, E1, and E1cB elimination reactions. Using the theoretical framework by Elby and Hammer, we defined a resource as a unit of information used in the problem-solving…

Students come to their high school physics classroom with experiences and knowledge that can be used to help explain physics concepts, but those experiences may not fully align with the scientifically accepted science concept. When there is a misalignment between a student's prior knowledge and the scientifically accepted concept a misconception…

Student learning in upper-division thermal physics has not been studied to the same extent as in other courses like electromagnetism and quantum mechanics. Studies addressing reasoning and learning at the graduate level are even more limited. In this study, we conducted think-aloud interviews with eight graduate students involving questions…

In this article, we present a qualitative study examining students' thoughts and strategies while transferring concepts about energy in physics. We include theoretical approaches of existing transfer research and findings from think-aloud interviews with 20 students of different ages and school levels to develop a framework for analysing the…

Despite problem solving being a core skill in chemistry, students often struggle to solve chemistry problems. This difficulty may arise from students trying to solve problems through memorising algorithms. Goldilocks Help serves as a problem-solving scaffold that supports students through structured problem solving and its elements, such as…

Guided inquiry learning is an effective method for learning about scientific concepts. The present study investigated the effects of combining video modeling (VM) examples and metacognitive prompts on university students' (N = 127) scientific reasoning and self-regulation during inquiry learning. We compared the effects of watching VM examples…

Given the importance of fostering students' interest as a goal of physics education in meeting international science standards, empirical support for the theoretical description of the interest construct is essential. Empirical studies require the use of psychometrically sound measurement instruments. This study developed an instrument to measure…

Many recent studies document the difficulties that students experience when learning organic chemistry, often due to the complex visualization and reasoning skills required to successfully understand the ways molecules interact in specific environments. Many of these studies call on instructors to improve their teaching strategies to support…

While existing studies have underscored the educational benefits of generating explanatory hypotheses (EHs) in response to unexpected outcomes, empirical research on the underlying mechanisms driving their effectiveness in science learning remains limited. Thus, this study aimed to empirically examine the effectiveness of generating an EH for…

This article reports on a case study that aims to help students develop mechanistic reasoning through constructing a model based stop-motion animation of a physical phenomenon. Mechanistic reasoning is a valuable thinking strategy for students in trying to make sense of scientific phenomena. Ten ninth-grade students used stop-motion software to…

As quantum technologies transition from the research laboratory into commercial development, the opportunities for students to begin their careers in this new quantum industry are increasing. With these new career pathways, more and more people are considering the best ways to educate students about quantum concepts and relevant skills. In…

Feedback loop reasoning is an essential part of systems thinking, which includes the analysis and description of system behaviour and regulative measures. In feedback loops, every change can simultaneously represent a cause and an effect. Research on reasoning in feedback loops is limited to investigating students' existing mental models. This…

This study investigated eight experienced science teachers' and eight senior high school students' metavisualization when they drew models to represent their concepts of carbon cycling. Qualitative data collection techniques including think-aloud tasks and follow-up retrospective interviews were employed. The purposes of the study included: (1) to…

This work is focused on upper-secondary school students' ability to use the periodic table of elements to solve problem tasks. Eye-tracking and retrospective think-aloud methods were used to evaluate the reasoning behind the students' (N = 8) performance, i.e., to map the strategies they used and problems they faced when solving the tasks. The…