To explain experiences of riders of rotating systems, such as a merry-go-round, some physics educators have employed the concept of 'centrifugal force.' However, others have suggested that the term is unnecessary in explaining experiences in rotating systems and that it encourages misconceptions surrounding circular motion dynamics. Owing to this…

The concepts of electronegativity and classical electronegativity scales are briefly described. Electronegativity scales have practical quantitative applications, and this work suggests activities which can assist students select the scales for use in chemistry applications. It provided examples of the use of an appropriate electronegativity…

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…

Entropy and the second law of thermodynamics have long been identified as difficult concepts to teach in the physical chemistry curriculum. Their highly abstract nature, mathematical complexity and emergent nature underscore the necessity to better link classical thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics. The objectives of this systematic…

The objective of this descriptive study is to provide a detailed examination of science teachers' perspectives regarding scientific knowledge, science learning, science concepts, and science teaching. A total of 304 science teachers created metaphors to express their cognitions about the epistemological aspects of their work. A specifically…

In this article, we tackle the phenomenon of what seems to be a misunderstanding between science education theory and philosophy of science--one which does not seem to have received any attention in the literature. While there seems to be a consensus within the realm of science education on limiting or altogether denying the explanatory role of…

Understanding ATP formation is essential for learning metabolism and is central to grasping metabolic processes as a whole. However, due to the high level of abstraction, the number of intermediate substrates, the connections, and integrated regulation, its comprehension often poses a challenge. This and the fact that traditional teaching methods…

Ion transport, involving the diffusion and migration of ions within the electrolyte, stands as a fundamental concept in electrochemistry and serves as the driving force for electrochemical reactions. Electric double layers are critical in the fields of electrochemical energy storage and chemical conversion, constituting a central focus of…

Water is one of the most common molecules in the universe. Water is polarized, but it has many states besides the normal tetrahedron depicted in standard biology texts. Water is also the most ubiquitous molecule on Earth, the universal solvent. It is the internal and external habitat of cells. Ecologically, water is contiguous with life and the…

Organic chemistry is challenging for novices as it involves a large quantity of organic reactions. Effective learning requires not only profound theoretical knowledge but also the ability to reason about causal mechanisms. This study investigated pre-service chemistry teachers' mechanistic reasoning and the implicit cognitive process. Participants…

The problem here dealt with concerns physics education, and specifically the concept of force. The idea behind this research is that a historical approach to the teaching of such a notion is of great help for the students to fully understand the meaning of this basic physical magnitude. For, most of scientific concepts can be better grasped by the…

No scientific concept in the twenty-first century has garnered more attention from scholars outside the scientific community than the Anthropocene. Despite the official rejection by the geological community in March 2024 of the proposal for an Anthropocene Epoch as a formal unit of the Geological Time Scale, it is expected to remain an invaluable…

Understanding the photosynthesis concepts is challenging due to its abstract nature, often leading to student misconceptions. This study aims to identify and analyze misconceptions among science and social studies students using the image analysis method. A total of 78 students (32 science, 46 social studies) participated, selected through a…

The ability to extract structural information from a drawing of a molecule is key to being successful in organic chemistry. One source of difficulty for novices in interpreting structures is that hydrogens bound to carbon are represented implicitly in the often-used line-angle structures. Other representations that explicitly show hydrogens, such…

Knowledge about genetics is essential to build a society capable of participating in socioscientific and ethical debates. However, this subject remains difficult for students, making it necessary to develop new educational strategies, such as gamification. Thus, two main objectives are established in this work: (a) to design and evaluate…