Learning progressions (LPs) serve as frameworks for understanding the level of complexity of students' ideas within a domain. Multifaceted LPs contain multiple interrelated constructs where increased knowledge in one construct may increase knowledge of a separate construct. While it is challenging to identify and test these contingencies between…

The science curriculum's potential for developing students' scientific literacy offers the ideal opportunity for addressing global concerns such as the 'post-truth' epidemic. In this article, we review the Year 10 "Australian Curriculum: Science" for its capacity to help students become producers and consumers of knowledge. We adopt a…

The present work explores students' repertoire of explicit knowledge fragments relevant to the atomic structure, seeking to answer which of those and through which routes are activated by students when constructing their explanations for some everyday situations. For this purpose, six tasks describing different situations were given to 225…

This study applies a framework for mathematical cognition and learning (Bossé, et al., 2018a; Bossé et al., 2019; Bossé et al., 2018b) to examples of students' comprehension of geometric concepts related to angles. This framework utilizes key concepts from second language acquisition (SLA) to elucidate processes involved in mathematical learning.…

This study addresses the need for innovative research approaches in science education for understanding better the inter-relationships between emotion and cognition in learning, using a sociological perspective. Our perspective draws upon the concept of emotional energy that is described as an outcome from successful social interactions during…

It is a widely held view that students' epistemic beliefs influence the way they think and learn in a given context, however, in the science learning context, the relationship between sophisticated epistemic beliefs and success in scientific practice is sometimes ambiguous. Taking this inconsistency as a point of departure, we examined the…

The United States and the United Kingdom have used standardized high-stakes testing as a measurement of students' cognitive level to determine success in the 21st century. Standardized tests have given teachers guidance to help them determine what to teach students and how to teach to the test. With such increased emphasis on high-stakes…

Visualizing the chemical structure and dynamics of particles has been challenging for many students; therefore, various visualizations and tools have been used in chemistry education. For science educators, it has been important to understand how students visualize and represent particular phenomena--i.e., their mental models-- to design more…

This dissertation study is a conglomerate of the fields of Science Education and Applied Cognitive Psychology. The goal of this study is to determine what organizational features and knowledge representation patterns high school students exhibit over time for issues pertinent to science and society. Participants are thirteen tenth grade students…

Following up on the effects of learning environments is essential to learning. The aim of this study was to examine students' mental models related to the concepts of expansion and contraction of materials. The population of the case study consisted of 155 students in a city center in Turkey. The data was gathered using open-ended questions that…

This study implemented an independent silent reading (ISR) program with 145 10th grade students. Students were measured on total reading ability, vocabulary, reading comprehension, a state-mandated high stakes end-of-course test (EOCT), and reading attribution. After controlling for initial skill and disposition levels, the results indicated that…

The sex-positive framework of sexual development hypothesizes that healthy sexual experiences can be developmentally appropriate and rewarding for adolescents despite the risks involved. Research has not examined whether risky behaviors and rewarding cognitions actually change with sexual debut at a normative or late age. This study measured the…

This study documents the mental representations of magnetism constructed by students aged 15-17 and attempts to investigate whether these display the characteristics of models with an inner cohesiveness and constancy; whether they share common features with typical historical models of the Sciences; and whether they evolve through conventional…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the score differences on the Texas Academic Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Reading and Mathematics measures among students in Grades 10 and 11 as a function of music enrollment. Specifically, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and enrollment in choir, band, or orchestra or no music enrollment…

The expertise reversal effect occurs when a learning procedure that is effective for novices becomes ineffective for more knowledgeable learners. The authors consider how to match instructional presentations to levels of learner knowledge. Experiments 1-2 were designed to develop a schema-based rapid method of measuring learners' knowledge in a…