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Stern, Florian; Kampourakis, Kostas; Müller, Andreas – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2023
Biology education research has shown that deeply rooted intuitions can influence students' understanding of biological phenomena. One example is design teleology, the intuition that organisms' traits were designed to fulfill a goal. Another example is psychological essentialism, the intuition that organisms have fixed essences. Past research has…
Descriptors: Biology, Science Education, Genetics, Scientific Concepts
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Haskel-Ittah, Michal; Duncan, Ravit Golan; Vázquez-Ben, Lucia; Yarden, Anat – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2020
Mechanisms are central in scientific explanations. However, developing mechanistic explanations is difficult for students especially in domains in which mechanisms involve abstract components and functions, such as genetics. One of the core components of genetic mechanisms are proteins and their functions. Students struggle to reason about the…
Descriptors: Middle School Students, Grade 7, Secondary School Science, Genetics
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Block, Nicholas C. – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2020
Science students are increasingly challenged to use technical language related to the topics that they are studying, and therefore, science teachers benefit from knowing which tools are effective to support students in learning to use new terms. This study examined the impact of using one such tool--sentences frames--to teach science vocabulary,…
Descriptors: Middle School Students, Hispanic American Students, Secondary School Science, Science Instruction
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Minkley, Nina; Kärner, Tobias; Jojart, Atila; Nobbe, Lasse; Krell, Moritz – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2018
In science education, representations are necessary inter alia for the understanding of relationships between structures and systems. However, several studies have identified difficulties of students when working with representations. In the present study, we investigated students' responses (regarding their preference, test performance, mental…
Descriptors: Cognitive Processes, Difficulty Level, Scientific Concepts, Molecular Structure
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Leuchter, Miriam; Naber, Britta – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2019
Attention to core concepts in science and engineering in early education has grown recently, and understanding levers as force amplifiers can be recognized as one of these. Previous studies focused on two-sided levers and do not provide sufficient information about children's knowledge of levers as force amplifiers, nor about their learning and…
Descriptors: Science Education, Physics, Engineering Education, Knowledge Level
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Kalinowski, Steven T.; Willoughby, Shannon – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2019
We present a multiple-choice test, the Montana State University Formal Reasoning Test (FORT), to assess college students' scientific reasoning ability. The test defines scientific reasoning to be equivalent to formal operational reasoning. It contains 20 questions divided evenly among five types of problems: control of variables, hypothesis…
Descriptors: Science Tests, Test Construction, Science Instruction, Introductory Courses
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Jin, Hui; Johnson, Michele E.; Shin, Hyo Jeong; Anderson, Charles W. – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2017
This study was conducted in a large-scale environmental literacy project. In the project, we developed a Learning Progression Framework (LPF) for matter and energy in social-ecological systems; the LPF contains four achievement levels. Based on the LPF, we designed a Plant Unit to help Levels 2 and 3 students advance to Level 4 of the LPF. In the…
Descriptors: Environmental Education, Ecology, Scientific Concepts, Learning Processes
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Potgieter, Marietjie; Harding, Ansie; Engelbrecht, Johann – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2008
Students in undergraduate chemistry courses find, as a rule, topics with a strong mathematical basis difficult to master. In this study we investigate whether such mathematically related problems are due to deficiencies in their mathematics foundation or due to the complexity introduced by transfer of mathematics to a new scientific domain. In the…
Descriptors: Scientific Concepts, Science Process Skills, Chemistry, Mathematical Logic
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Ruiz-Primo, Maria Araceli; Li, Min; Tsai, Shin-Ping; Schneider, Julie – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2010
In this study, we analyzed the quality of students' written scientific explanations found in notebooks and explored the link between the quality of the explanations and students' learning. We propose an approach to systematically analyzing and scoring the quality of students' explanations based on three components: claim, evidence to support it,…
Descriptors: Performance Based Assessment, Multiple Choice Tests, Science Instruction, Thinking Skills
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Doran, Rodney L.; Pella, Milton O. – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 1971
Descriptors: Achievement Tests, Cognitive Tests, Elementary School Science, Evaluation
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Cotham, Joseph C.; Smith, Edward L. – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 1981
Describes the development of an instrument, for use by elementary and secondary science teachers, sensitive to alternative conceptions of particular philosophic aspects of scientific theories and which has applicability in inferring understanding of the tentative and revisionary conception of science. (DS)
Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, Evaluation, Science Education, Science Teachers
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Mayer, Victor J.; Kozlow, M. James – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 1980
Investigated the learning by eighth-grade students of the concept of crustal evolution, asking questions that deal with how time-efficient procedures can be devised that measure concept learning effectively and whether these procedures yield valid information on the learning of a science concept. (CS)
Descriptors: Concept Formation, Earth Science, Measurement Techniques, Science Education
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Camacho, Moises; Good, Ron – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 1989
Describes the problem-solving behaviors of experts and novices engaged in solving seven chemical equilibrium problems. Lists 27 behavioral tendencies of successful and unsuccessful problem solvers. Discusses several implications for a problem solving theory, think-aloud techniques, adequacy of the chemistry domain, and chemistry instruction.…
Descriptors: Chemistry, College Science, Problem Sets, Problem Solving
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Yarroch, William L. – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 1991
The use of content validity as the primary assurance of the measurement accuracy for science assessment examinations is questioned. An alternative accuracy measure, item validity, is proposed. Item validity is based on research using qualitative comparisons between (1) student answers to objective items, (2) clinical interviews, and (3) student…
Descriptors: Content Validity, Educational Research, Elementary Secondary Education, Evaluation
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Planinic, Maja; Boone, William J.; Krsnik, Rudolf; Beilfuss, Meredith L. – Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2006
Croatian 1st-year and 3rd-year high-school students (N = 170) completed a conceptual physics test. Students were evaluated with regard to two physics topics: Newtonian dynamics and simple DC circuits. Students answered test items and also indicated their confidence in each answer. Rasch analysis facilitated the calculation of three linear…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Test Items, Physics, High Schools
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