Socio-scientific issues (SSI) instruction positions the understanding and practice of science in the context of issues that are informed by science but require reasoning about their societal dimensions to respond to those issues effectively. For this reason, instruction in the context of SSI has been considered the gateway to contemporary visions…

This research paper aims to propose a novel didactic sequence inspired by an historical/epistemological study of the evolution of spectroscopy and in particular of colorimetry. The working principles of the historical color comparators and the visual color matching method, first proposed by Duboscq, stimulated us in the development of a five-step…

Pre-service science teachers develop their teaching practices within and across the university and school contexts of their teacher education programs. The practices and visions of teaching and learning emphasized in each context are often disjointed, a problem referred to as the "two-worlds pitfall." Responding to the call for teacher…

The ability to reason with representations is pivotal for successful learning in Organic Chemistry and is closely linked to representational competence. Given the visual nature of this discipline, this comprises competency in extracting and processing relevant visual information. With regard to the resonance concept, proficiency in identifying…

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…

Analysis of results from research in cognitive science and discipline-based education in recent years suggests that student thinking and learning can be better understood and investigated by adopting a systemic perspective that recognizes the complex and dynamic interactions taking place within and across multiple interconnected and interdependent…

Teaching disciplinary literacy in the elementary classroom provides rich potential for bridging the literacy-content divide, building background knowledge, extending learning, and deepening student thinking. This article explores how six elementary teachers tried and tested approaches to embedding literacy in three very different subjects:…

There is a growing need for more effective interdisciplinary science instruction across undergraduate degree programs. In addition to supporting students' connections between disciplinary concepts, interdisciplinary learning can develop students' critical thinking skills and allow them to evaluate scientific investigations and claims between…

Biological interactions and associations underlie life's processes at every level of organization. Here, we present a classroom activity that allows students to visualize and understand the connections within almost any biological system, from cell functions to ecological relationships. We recommend that instructors implement this activity to…

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…

In science, one of the most crucial representations for constructing meaning about physical events is graphs. The first graph students encounter in science class is the constant velocity motion graph. Therefore, examining students' understanding of structuring and interpreting these graphs for the relationship between distance, time, and velocity…

In today's knowledge-based and rapidly changing society, developing students' critical thinking skills in instruction is a vital concern in almost all science curricula. To acquire meaningful learning, learners need to develop skills in choosing suitable information, gauging the integrity of information, and crafting sound decisions. With this,…

Despite representations' central role in conveying chemical phenomena, mastering them is not trivial, given the wide variety of different conventions to interpret and use them. Furthermore, instructional approaches and materials may overlook explicit discussion on how students should reason with representations. To gather evidence that could guide…

The role of computation in science is ever-expanding and is enabling scientists to investigate complex phenomena in more powerful ways and tackle previously intractable problems. The growing role of computation has prompted calls to integrate computational thinking (CT) into science instruction in order to more authentically mirror contemporary…

Critical thinking skills (CTS) have been applied in the learning environment to address students' challenges in the twenty-first century. Therefore, specific approaches need to be implemented in the learning environment to support students' CTS. This research explores students' CTS during the learning process through the engineering design process…