Immersive Virtual Reality (iVR) can help students visualise and explore complex chemical concepts, such as protein enzyme structures and interactions. We designed a set of collaborative iVR-based learning tasks on the interaction between a protein enzyme and its substrate. We investigated how 18 pairs (36 students) in undergraduate chemistry…

Chemical bonding is central to explaining many phenomena. Research in chemical education and the Framework for K-12 Science Education (the "Framework") argue for new approaches to learning chemical bonding grounded in (1) using ideas of the balance of electric forces and energy minimization to explain bond formation, (2) using learning…

Computer-simulated experiments have been gaining popularity over hands-on experiments in science education, given the availability of technology and the trend of distance learning. Past studies have focused primarily on comparing the learning outcomes and user experiences of the two experiment modes. In this study, we used an eye tracker to…

Virtual reality (VR) can provide access to otherwise inaccessible aspects of the world and thus promote science learning. We developed a VR learning tool about the water cycle, with 11 lessons for classroom teaching at the primary level. We assessed prior knowledge before a four-week intervention and learning outcomes directly after the…

Virtual Reality (VR) has been widely adopted in educational research; however, its implementation in the classroom is still not as well known as in the research field. In other words, there is a gap between researchers and practitioners regarding the pedagogical issue. This study aimed to explore how VR could be applied in science classrooms using…

Background: This study posits that scaffolded team-based computational modeling and simulation projects can support model-based learning that can result in evidence of representational competence and regulatory skills. The study involved 116 students from a second-year thermodynamics undergraduate course organized into 24 teams, who worked on…

This study revamps and optimizes the teaching and learning process and instrument for the classic binary vapor-liquid equilibrium experiment by combining activity coefficient model simulations and practical exercises. Our teaching process combines a software simulation and practical exercises. Utilizing Aspen software, students can predict phase…

The use of mixed reality in science education has been increasing and as such it has become more important to understand how information is learned in these virtual environments. Spatial ability is important in many learning contexts, but especially in neuroanatomy education where learning the locations and spatial relationships between brain…

Understanding scientific phenomena requires learners to construct mental models of causal systems. Simulation-based discovery learning offers learners the opportunity to construct mental models and test them against the behavior of a simulation. The purpose of this study was to investigate sequential patterns of learner actions and utterances…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) delineate three interrelated dimensions that describe what students should know and how they should engage in science learning. These present significant challenges for assessment because traditional assessments may not be able to capture the ways in which students engage with content. Science…

This dissertation investigates how embodied learning within a Mixed Reality (MR) environment supports young children's science learning, focusing on a honeybee system. To do so, I designed three types of activities within an MR environment to enable young children to assume different perspectives as they create embodied models of honeybees as…

Background: Guidance has showed positive effects on promoting inquiry-based learning in science education. While an increasing number of studies focus on the design of guidance in simulation-based inquiry learning due to recent technology developments, how different designs of a same type of guidance affect learning remains a question. Objectives:…

Multilingual learners (MLs) often struggle with science conceptual learning partly due to the abstractness of the concepts and the complexity of scientific texts. This study presents a case of a Virtual Reality (VR) enhanced science learning unit to support middle-school students' science conceptual learning. Using a transformative mixed methods…

Molecular symmetry and orbitals are two important chemical concepts which can be difficult for students to visualize in three dimensions; as such, instructors have traditionally adopted a variety of approaches to teach them including the use of physical models and digital renderings/resources. This paper describes a new mobile device application…

This paper proposes the Learning in Embodied Activity Framework (LEAF) which aims to synthesize across individual and sociocultural theories of learning to provide a more robust account of how the body plays a role in collaborative learning, particularly when students are learning about a collective phenomenon where coordination between and across…