Science education reforms advocate modeling as a core practice in which "analogy" is a significant form and "analogical modeling" is a creative process for scientific explanation and discovery. This study adopts the self-generated analogical modeling approach involving electricity, which considers all the modeling subprocesses…

While the hypothetico-deductive approach, which includes inductive and deductive reasoning, is largely recognized in scientific reasoning, there is not much focus on abductive reasoning. Abductive reasoning describes the theory-based attempt of explaining a phenomenon by a cause. By integrating abductive reasoning into a framework for modeling…

Embodied cognition has been a useful means to support learning in science education. In this article, we describe a model of embodied cognition through analogical mapping that is supported through the participatory simulation and mathematical description of a link and pivot system. We look at the propensity for this model of embodied cognition to…

The main goal of this research is to study the effect of modelling with system dynamics on learning. Specifically, this research studies if using inductive or deductive learning methods applied during modelling with system dynamics has any effect on problem solving skills of students. This research has three other goals: Firstly, the successful…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the features of modeling-based abductive reasoning as a disciplinary practice of inquiry in the domain of earth science. The study was based on an undergraduate course of a university of education, Korea, offered for preservice elementary teachers majoring in science as their specialty. The course…

This paper addresses some methodological issues concerning traditional linear approaches and shows the need for a paradigm shift in education research towards the Complexity and Nonlinear Dynamical Systems (NDS) framework. It presents a quantitative piece of research aiming to test the nonlinear dynamical hypothesis in education. It applies…

Models and analogies can help understanding, help explain the world and make a process or structure that one cannot easily see more explicit. Models and analogies can help children to visualise abstract processes and make ideas concrete. Children enjoy working with them because they are motivating and often require creative thought. Models and…

In recent times there has been a surge in interest on policy instruments to stimulate scientific and engineering research that is of greater consequence, advancing our knowledge in leaps rather than steps and is therefore more "creative" or, in the language of recent reports, "transformative." Associated with the language of "transformative…

In this study, the effect of 3 cognitive variables such as logical thinking, field dependence/field independence, and convergent/divergent thinking on some specific students' answers related to the particulate nature of matter was investigated by means of probabilistic models. Besides recording and tabulating the students' responses, a combination…

In recent years, science education has placed increasing importance on learners' mastery of scientific reasoning. This growing emphasis presents a challenge for both developers and users of assessments. We report on our effort around the conceptualization, development, and testing the validity of an assessment of students' ability to reason around…

Geoscience instructors and textbooks rely on analogy for teaching students a wide range of content, from the most basic concepts to highly complicated systems. The goal of this paper is to connect educational and cognitive science research on analogical thinking with issues of geoscience instruction. Analogies convey that the same basic…

Recent science education reforms have emphasized the importance of students engaging with and reasoning from evidence to develop scientific explanations. A number of studies have created frameworks based on Toulmin's (1958/2003) argument pattern, whereas others have developed systems for assessing the quality of students' reasoning to support…

In this study, we examine how subjects set up, transform, and reason with models that they establish on the basis of known facts as they seek to explain a familiar everyday phenomenon--the phases of the moon. An interview schedule was designed to elicit subjects' reasoning, and in the case where explanations were mistaken, to induce a change in…

This study examined conceptual change of Thai middle school students after learning photosynthesis with analogy and model. The analogy mapped key features from the analog (cooking food) to the target concept (photosynthesis). Modeling photosynthesis activity provided the opportunity for students to understand how plants use sugar to synthesize…

This article adapts the Evidence-Based Reasoning (EBR) Framework (Brown, Furtak, Timms, Nagashima, & Wilson, this issue) to create a coding system for assessing argumentation in science classroom discourse. The instrument, "Evidence-Based Reasoning in Science Classroom Discourse", is intended to provide a means for measuring the quality of EBR in…