How anthropomorphic reasoning functions in scientific thinking has been a controversial topic. There is evidence it is problematic as well as evidence it can play productive roles, for scientists and for students. In science education, however, the prevailing view remains that it is an impediment. For this study, we have chosen examples of what we…

Argumentation-based classroom interventions are a growing alternative for stimulating conceptual learning, thinking, and communicative skills. However, not all classroom argumentation is desired, nor does every argumentation design lead students to develop their abilities and understanding. In the educational literature, productive argumentation…

This study examines the behavior of individuals when two intuitive rules in their minds lead to two different outcomes concerning a problem. In the absence of the formal knowledge, intuitive rules can affect the mathematical thinking. Hence, studies have usually compared the correct answer of the related formal knowledge with the incorrect one…

Computational thinking (CT) is gaining attention in education as a part of digital literacy and can be addressed in several disciplines, including mathematics. Through the lens of Brennan and Resnick's framework, we investigated how computational concepts, practices, and perspectives can be addressed in upper-secondary statistics lessons using…

We report six experiments that examine how two essential components of a category-learning paradigm, training and feedback, can be manipulated to maximize learning and transfer of real-world, complex concepts. Some subjects learned through classification and were asked to classify hypothetical experiment scenarios as either true or non-true…

When learning about scientific phenomena, students are expected to "mechanistically" explain how underlying interactions produce the observable phenomenon and "conceptually" connect the observed phenomenon to canonical scientific knowledge. This paper investigates how the integration of the complementary processes of designing…

Even though there is a great temptation as teachers to share what is known, many are aware of an idea called "rules that expire" (RTE) and have realized the importance of avoiding them. There is evidence that students need to understand mathematical concepts and that merely presenting rules to carry out in a procedural and disconnected…

Chemistry is a systems science that deals with complex-dynamic systems and systems thinking is an essential aspect of chemical practices. Thus, a systems thinking approach is needed in chemistry education for meaningful learning of the subject matter. Despite this necessity, systems thinking has not received sufficient attention in chemistry…

Design-based learning is considered a powerful way to help students apply and develop understanding of science concepts, but research has shown that the success of this approach is not a given. Examining students' understanding of science concepts in various design-based learning contexts has thus continued to be an important field of research. To…

We use the Survey of Thermodynamic Processes and First and Second Laws-Long, a research-based survey instrument with 78 items at the level of introductory physics, to investigate introductory and advanced students' difficulties with internal energy, work, and heat transfer. We present analysis of data from 12 different introductory and advanced…

We discuss an investigation of student sensemaking and reasoning in the context of degenerate perturbation theory (DPT) in quantum mechanics. We find that advanced undergraduate and graduate students in quantum physics courses often struggled with expertlike sensemaking and reasoning to solve DPT problems. The sensemaking and reasoning were…

Angle measurement is a significant topic in almost all areas of mathematics learning and also in many disciplines outside mathematics education, such as engineering and architecture. According to the literature, there are three common conceptions of angles--as union of rays, rotations, and wedges. Researchers argued that students must consider…

Circulatory system is a challenging subject for middle school students to learn and understand conceptual relationships. To address these challenges, this study developed plugged (computational thinking activities using computer) and unplugged (computational thinking activities without using computer) teaching modules that integrated computational…

In this article we analyze how students reason about linear combinations across multiple digital environments. We present the work of three groups of undergraduate students in the Southeast United States (US) who were considered ready to take linear algebra. The students played the game "Vector Unknown," reflected upon aspects of their…

We examined widely used popular calculus textbooks to explore opportunities to learn the limit concept. Definitions, worked problems, and exercise problems were coded to examine if these tasks allow students to use informal thinking to coordinate domain and range processes to understand the infinite process of limit. Results revealed many exercise…