Educational standards and instructional frameworks aim to foster students' scientific literacy, especially their conceptual knowledge. Previous research has examined several instructional approaches to foster students' conceptual learning. Reliable and adequate use of technical terms in science instruction is also essential for fostering students'…

The aim of this study was to identify, classify and describe different types of vernacular misconceptions assessed with the items used in a study named "Laboratory of Thinking," Diagnosis of Science Education in Poland. We provide an outline of contemporary conceptual change theories and establish a typology of misconceptions where it…

Reading research in K-12 English-speaking contexts reveals that inferential and expository texts cause substantial difficulty for students but less such research exists regarding other languages. It was the purpose of this quantitative cloze-based study to expose any relationship between student difficulty and particular features of the Arabic…

Molecular life science is one of the fastest-growing fields of scientific and technical innovation, and biotechnology has profound effects on many aspects of daily life--often with deep, ethical dimensions. At the same time, the content is inherently complex, highly abstract, and deeply rooted in diverse disciplines ranging from "pure…

Describes an activity having students investigate and report the names of acronyms. Presents a list of common acronyms used in biological education. Author found that having students investigate acronyms improved their comprehension of the large number of seemingly complex and intimidating bioscientific jargon. (PR)