Testlets have advantages such as making it possible to measure higher-order thinking skills and saving time, which are accepted in the literature. For this reason, they have often been preferred in many implementations from in-class assessments to large-scale assessments. Because of increased usage of testlets, the following questions are…

This study has two aims. The first is to determine the effect of argumentation and epistemologically enriched argumentation on academic achievement. The second is to determine students' opinions about the effect of the integration of argumentation and epistemologically enriched argumentation into the teaching process on academic achievement. In…

This study aimed to develop a learning progression (LP) for botanical literacy and assess the impact of a garden-based education course on Thai pre-service science teachers (n = 49). The inquiry- and community-based education course was taught over a 15-week period. To measure botanical literacy, a 50-item multiple-choice test was employed. A…

Reasoning skills have been clearly related to achievement in introductory undergraduate biology, a course with a high failure rate that may contribute to dropout of undergraduate STEM majors. Existing measures are focused on the experimental method, such as generating hypotheses, choosing a research method, how to control variables other than…

The purpose of this report is to present a synthesis of the research on test accommodations for U.S. elementary and secondary students (K-12) published in 2018. The academic literature described here encompasses empirical studies of performance comparability, investigations into accommodations use, implementation practices, and perceptions of the…

More than ever before, countries are relying on their experts in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields to find solutions to serious global problems, such as climate change, hunger, and disease. Unfortunately, the growing demand for these experts is outpacing supply. At each stage in the educational pipeline from the…

This study assessed the impact of an "active learning" strategy employed alone or in combination with traditional lectures on the learning of mammalian physiology by undergraduate students. The study investigated the impact of three teaching strategies, namely (1) traditional lecture, (2) group discussion alone, and (3) combination of…

The innovative-based economies such as Finland and other developed countries, offer a viable cohesive, and sustainable curriculum centralized around Project-Based Learning (PBL) and built on the Rigorous Curriculum Design (RCD). Such curriculum is developed by schools and warrants examination in developing countries such as the United Arab…

We explore the impact of the language of instruction on academic performance of Arabic-speaking students who are expected to learn mathematics and science in and through a second language (L2). Using as a theoretical background Cummins's (1984) framework relating language proficiency to academic achievement, we provide some insights into the…

This research is conducted to identify the scientific conceptual cognition of ecosystem and the corresponding alternative conceptions by lower-secondary school students in Taiwan. Concept mapping, interviewing, and two-tier diagnostic test cannot make explicit reasoning pathways that students may use. Therefore, its purpose is to develop,…

A sense of belonging is an important factor for the persistence of girls in the study of physics. Content and imagery that presents the field as a masculine domain will undermine belonging and make it more difficult for girls to establish a physics identity that is congruent with their gender identity. The physics syllabus, final examinations and…

Science students frequently struggle to apply crosscutting concepts such as scale or rates of change, and do not always effectively differentiate between linear and nonlinear processes. We approach this challenge from an embodied cognition perspective, which suggests learning can be facilitated by engaging students in physical activities that are…

Emphasizing stoichiometry appears to be a norm of introductory chemistry courses. In this longitudinal and mixed-methods study, we examined how the emphasis on stoichiometry in assessments of introductory chemistry impacted educational equity and student learning. Using quantitative methods, we identified mole and stoichiometric conversions as two…

In cognitive diagnosis assessment (CDA), the impact of misspecified item-attribute relations (or "Q-matrix") designed by subject-matter experts has been a great challenge to real-world applications. This study examined parameter estimation of the CDA with the expert-designed Q-matrix and two refined Q-matrices for international…

The acquisition of scientific knowledge through problem solving offers the possibility to consider different requirements for inclusive chemistry lessons. The architecture of the "model for inclusive chemistry teaching" (MiC) is designed in a way that teachers can derive concrete, planning-guiding assistance from it. Following this…