The Homeostasis Concept Inventory (HCI) is a validated instrument for measuring students' knowledge of homeostasis. It is comprised of 20 multiple-choice questions covering key components of the previously validated Homeostasis Conceptual Framework (HCF). In this paper, we present the first multi-institutional study of the impact of physiology…

This study aimed to develop a comprehensive diagnostic tool for assessing upper-secondary school students' understanding of isomers, expanding upon existing two- and three-tier conceptual diagnostic methods. By incorporating 'Confidence Rating Factor' tiers within the answer and reason sections, a four-tier test was designed and developed. This…

The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) is one of the research-based assessments established by the physics education research community to measure students' understanding of Newtonian mechanics. Former works have often recorded the notion of gendered mean FCI scores favoring male students notably in the North American (NA) based studies. Nevertheless,…

General chemistry is often the first course taken by students interested in careers in STEM and health fields, and therefore, is considered an essential course for the success and retention of students in these fields. Prior studies have shown study habits and skills to be related to student performance in college-level courses, including STEM…

The study outlines the early-stage development of a free-response General Relativity Concept Inventory (GRCI), an educational instrument designed to test for conceptual understanding of General Relativity. Data were collected for the study by having 26 participants from General Relativity courses work through the questions on the GRCI. Interviews…

In the era defined by the fourth paradigm of science research, the burgeoning volume of science data poses a formidable challenge. The established data-related requisites within science literacy now fall short of addressing the evolving needs of researchers and STEM students. Consequently, the emergence of science data literacy becomes imperative.…

This article describes the implementation of alternative grading (AG) strategies in an upper-division kinesiology and functional human anatomy course. Traditional point-based grading systems can negatively impact student mental health, decrease intrinsic motivation, and hinder learning. To address these issues, a proficiency-based grading approach…

This study explores the use of artificial intelligence in grading high-stakes physics exams, emphasizing the application of psychometric methods, particularly item response theory, to evaluate the reliability of AI-assisted grading. We examine how grading rubrics can be iteratively refined and how threshold parameters can determine when…

With the already widespread nature of multiple-choice assessments and the increasing popularity of answer-until-correct, it is important to have methods available for exploring the validity of these types of assessments as they are developed. This work analyzes a 20-question multiple choice assessment covering introductory undergraduate chemistry…

Cultivating students' enjoyment of science is one of the significant aims of science education. However, it seems challenging to achieve this goal in most countries or economies. Using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 Hong Kong data, this study aims to identify multiple configurations of school conditions to…

Science classroom assessment often requires multilingual learners to demonstrate ideas using only English-language resources. These assessments can provide an incomplete picture of students' knowledge and limit subsequent learning opportunities. Increasingly, science teachers are incorporating translanguaging pedagogies in their instructional…

This study examines the feasibility and potential advantages of using large language models, in particular GPT-4o, to perform partial credit grading of large numbers of student written responses to introductory level physics problems. Students were instructed to write down verbal explanations of their reasoning process when solving one conceptual…

In order to ensure content validity by covering a broad range of content domains, the testing times of some educational large-scale assessments last up to a total of two hours or more. Performance decline over the course of taking the test has been extensively documented in the literature. It can occur due to increases in the numbers of: (a)…

In physics education, a number of studies have developed assessments of teachers' knowledge of student understanding (KSU) of specific physics concepts with modified versions of existing concept inventories, in which teachers were asked to predict the popular incorrect answers from students. The results provide useful but indirect information to…

Predicting student performance in international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) is crucial for understanding educational outcomes on a global scale. ILSAs, such as the Program for International Student Assessment and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, serve as vital tools for policymakers, educators, and researchers to…