This study aimed to identify science teacher candidates' mental structures about the concept of the atom. This study included 120 science teacher candidates who were chosen using the convenience sampling method. This research is a phenomenological study. The data on students' mental models of the atom was collected using a metaphor form and an…

In this study, first the level of interconnectedness of the key concepts concerning the topic of physical and chemical changes in pre-service chemistry teachers' (PSCTs') semantic memories was explored. Second, the group cognitive structures of the PSCTs that contain associations between these key concepts and the response concepts that appeared…

Over the past few decades, researchers have focused on the lack of conceptual understanding of mole concept because it is considered to be difficult for students globally. Due to its abstract and mathematical nature, chemistry teachers tend to use algorithmic teaching strategies to provide learning experiences for students, resulting in…

In this research word association test was used to explore the cognitive structure of Pre-service science teachers about biological energy metabolism. The participant group constitutes 67 Preservice students at a university in Black Sea Region of Turkey. Ten key concepts in General Biology course were given as a stimulating word and a mind map was…

Current research in physics shows that pre-service teachers have poor content knowledge in vector-kinematics. This study describes the types of categories of conceptions pre-service teachers display in vector-kinematics. Descriptive and interpretive qualitative research was conducted in which the data were concept maps from 28 third-year…

The current study aims to determine science student teachers' cognitive structure on the concept of food chain. Qualitative research method was applied in this study. Fallacies detected in the pre-service teachers' conceptual structures are believed to result in students' developing misconceptions in their future classes and will adversely affect…

The aim of this study is to reveal pre-service science teachers' cognitive structures regarding Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) and science education. The study group of the study consisted of 192 pre-service science teachers. A Free Word Association Test (WAT) consisting of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and…

As learning is a product of the interaction between certain concepts which are already present within an individual's mind, it is becoming increasingly important to determine the cognitive structures in relation to these concepts which are present within the minds of students. It has been said that the word association test, which is a technique…

While the majority of published research on conceptual change has focused on how misconceptions can be abandoned or modified, some recent research findings support the hypothesis that acquired scientific knowledge does not necessarily erase or alter initial non-scientific knowledge but rather coexists with it. In keeping with this…

The purpose of the current study is to determine biology student teachers' cognitive structures on the concept of microscope. Qualitative research methodology has been applied in the study. The data were collected from biology student teachers. Free word association test and drawing-writing test were used to collect data. The data collected were…

This paper describes an expanded framework to aid chemical educators in constructing exams for their courses. The framework has three primary levels: definition, algorithmic, and conceptual. These primary levels have often been used in chemical education research to analyze and describe exam questions, but in this study the definition,…

These proceedings contain papers of the 3rd International Baltic Symposium on Science and Technology Education (BalticSTE2019) held in Šiauliai, Lithuania, June 17-19, 2019. This symposium was organized by the Scientific Methodical Center "Scientia Educologica" in cooperation with the Institute of Education, Šiauliai University. The…

The development of rich, reliable, and robust measures of the composition, structure, and stability of student thinking about core scientific ideas (such as natural selection) remains a complex challenge facing science educators. In their recent article (Nehm & Schonfeld 2008), the authors explored the strengths, weaknesses, and insights provided…

Over the past three decades, science educators have accumulated a vast amount of information on conceptions--variously defined as beliefs, ontologies, cognitive structures, mental models, or frameworks--that generally (at least initially) have been derived from interviews about certain topics. During the same time period, cultural studies has…

The purpose of this study was twofold. First, it was aimed to identify Turkish pre-service physics teachers' knowledge and understanding of the Moon, Moon phases, and other lunar phenomena. Second, the effects of model-based teaching on pre-service teachers' conceptions were examined. Conceptions were proposed as mental models in this study. Four…