The "Playground Physics" program combines informal, play-based, embodied learning experiences to support middle school students' engagement with and motivation to learn about complex and abstract physics concepts. This experimental design study examines the impact of "Playground Physics" on students' science motivation,…

We examined the role of refutation texts in learning to replace science misconceptions. Calling a misconception to the foreground may help people overcome the misconception (Broughton & Sinatra, 2010). To test this claim, we had students who expressed a common misconception in physics read one of three passages about the issue. The passages…

Although interest in science and math is often high in the elementary grades, interest in choosing science and math careers drops off beginning in junior high school for both genders, but especially for girls. By high school, a shift towards increased rigor is often accompanied by a lack of creativity in the way that scientific disciplines are…

The purpose of this study was to determine how and to what extent single gender science classes affect motivation to learn scientific concepts, interest in science, and college major intent among high school and middle school girls. This study was designed to determine whether students' motivation to learn science changes when they are placed in a…

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of structured note-taking compared to traditional note-taking on the acquisition of scientific knowledge for students with and without learning disabilities (LD) and students with reading difficulties (RD). An additional purpose was to examine whether the two note-taking methods…