Our technological, information-rich society thrives because of scientific thinking. However, a comprehensive theory of the development of scientific thinking remains elusive. Building on previous theoretical and empirical work in conceptual change, the role of credibility and plausibility in evaluating scientific evidence and claims, science…

Change theory has increasingly become an area of scholarship in STEM education. While this area has traditionally been a topic for organizational psychology, business management, communication studies, and higher education, STEM education researchers are increasingly aware of the need to use formal theories to guide change efforts and research.…

The study outlines the early-stage development of a free-response General Relativity Concept Inventory (GRCI), an educational instrument designed to test for conceptual understanding of General Relativity. Data were collected for the study by having 26 participants from General Relativity courses work through the questions on the GRCI. Interviews…

Traditional physical chemistry conceptions of reaction mechanism are formulated in terms of stationary points of an Arrhenius-style "energy profile" that differs sharply (in purpose and form) from the corresponding Robinson-style "arrow-pushing" mechanistic conceptions of organic chemistry. We show here how these diverse…

In our theoretical and conceptual article, we propose that the application of Niklas Luhmann's sociological systems theory as a difference-theoretical approach to the opening of science unveils an openness paradox. We describe and discuss the general concept of open science as currently proposed by UNESCO and posit that only by accepting the…

The purpose of this article is to differentially engage in the work of thinking with Indigenous theorists and theories with decolonizing science education research methodologies in mind. As a rejoinder to Tracey McMahon, Emily Griese, and DenYelle Baete Kenyon's "Cultivating Native American scientists: An application of an Indigenous model to…

The generation of meaning in discourse is regarded as the process of knowledge-building, which can be analyzed by semantic waves. Combining the deep learning systems and polynomial fitting method, we present a method to compute multimodal semantic waves. With this method, four representative examples are discussed for the knowledge-building of…

Advancing equity and justice in undergraduate biology education requires research to address the experiences of disabled students. Scholars working in disability studies have developed models of disability that inform Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER). To date, DBER literature has been predominantly informed by the medical and social…

The Repertory Grid Technique (RGT) is a qualitative method, based on the Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) theory, which provides a powerful tool to elicit tacit personal construction systems, with minimal intervention and interpretation. Although the contributory potential of the RGT as a cognitive research tool in science education has been…

Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and the theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour (TRAPB) have both guided studies seeking to explain students' intentions and decisions related to future science engagement. The purpose of this study was to simultaneously validate measures for these two social psychological models and closely examine…

Lately, new materialism has been proposed as a theoretical framework to better understand material-dialogic relationships in learning, and concurrently network analysis has emerged as a method in science education research. This paper explores how to include materiality in network analysis and reports the development of a method to construct…

The geosciences consist of multiple disciplines including geology, oceanography, and atmospheric science. Significant work expended to understand spatial thinking skills important to teaching and learning geology has advanced our ability to support students in geology courses and to achieve increased student success, retention, and diversity in…

Students' beliefs about their abilities (called "lay theories") affect their motivations, behaviors, and academic success. Lay theories include beliefs about the potential to improve intelligence (mindset), who (i.e., everyone or only some people) has the potential to be excellent in a field (universality), and whether reaching…

Understanding how students develop biology interests and the roles interest plays in biology contexts could help instructors and researchers to increase science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students' motivation and persistence. However, it is currently unclear how interest has been defined or measured in the biology education research…

This paper discusses the emergence of science education in the seventeenth century with the influences of Joseph Priestley on the Dissenting Academies. Primarily, this paper analyses Priestley's ideas from some of his letters to scientists during his time and his ideas from his books "Miscellaneous Observations Relating to Education"…