The understanding of complex molecular representations is crucial for comprehending molecular scientific phenomena, but many students struggle with them. Therefore, we investigated the effectiveness of short written clues in dealing with molecular representations, specifically their impact on performance, self-efficacy, and stress reactions. A…

A large body of literature has established the benefits of undergraduate research experiences via the traditional apprenticeship model. More recently, several studies have shown that many of these benefits can be recapitulated in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) that are more scalable and easier for students to participate…

Two generative approaches to reaction mechanism instruction for novice students were compared to lecture instruction. In both approaches, students were coached to propose selected reaction mechanisms based on prior knowledge. New instructional methods were correlated with increased skill in representations of electron movements and other gains.…

Preparatory or bridging courses are widespread and have a long tradition at universities. They are designed to increase students' academic success -- in particular of students with low prior knowledge -- and to reduce dropout rates. However, critics of these short and compact bridging courses complain that preparatory courses are not able to fill…

The increasing prevalence of online courses has highlighted the importance of digital literacy for students. This study investigates the relationship between digital literacy and academic achievement among students who participate in an online course on anatomy and physiology. The study also evaluates how different aspects of digital literacy,…

Students experience many difficulties learning the fundamental relationships in Newtonian mechanics, partly due to preexisting mental models that originate from their everyday lives. These preconceptions often persist even after instruction in mechanics and lead to a supposed incompatibility between physics lessons in school and personal…

Over 40 years of research, concept maps have shown that they are beneficial for learning. However, much of this research has been conducted in laboratory settings. Although there are a few studies conducted in the classroom, there is little understanding of the instructional efficacy of using different types of concept maps. In a between-subjects…

Background: Video lectures which include the teachers' presence have become increasingly common. As teacher enthusiasm is a nonverbal cue in video lectures, more and more studies are focusing on this topic. However, little research has been carried out on the interactions between teacher enthusiasm and prior knowledge when learning from video…

Physics educators keep adding many skill developments to science and engineering students during their education as individuals and groups including critical thinking, conceptual understanding, problem-solving, mathematical implementation, computational implementation, etc. Here, we are discussing how to reach and analyse students' outcomes within…

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact a specific socio-scientific inquiry (SSI) unit has on student achievement and attitudes over the course of two years with two different implementations of the unit. Specifically, this study addressed the following research question: What impact does participation in an SSI unit have on student…

The purpose of this study was to explore grade eight students' views in terms of different scientific reasoning progress levels. To explore students' views, phenomenographic study was used. The qualitative analysis of students' interviews elicited three major themes of students' views about scientific reasoning progress levels: naïve, mixed, and…

This study was carried out with a total of 75 students attending 9th grade in two high schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in Reyhanli district, which hosted many Syrian refugees in Hatay province in the spring semester of 2018-2019 academic years and lasted for three weeks. A total of 75 students, 43 from two different 9th…

Integrating reading instruction and content area curriculum has been suggested as a method of improving students' reading comprehension and access to content knowledge. Less clear are the specific practices that should be used across the curriculum to improve comprehension and build knowledge simultaneously. The two studies in this dissertation…

Background: Being able to think independently is a must for students to construct new knowledge in their minds. Self-explaining is a constructive learning strategy that encourages students to think for themselves and to make inferences that go beyond the given information. The Self-explain--Discuss--Re-explain (SDR) strategy adapted from…

The learning characteristics of each student are different. Differentiated instruction considers individual differences, as such guides the learning journey rather than seeing these differences as a challenge. The purpose of this research was to compare the effects of differentiated instruction and 5E learning cycle in physics classes on the…