This paper analyses the conceptions of a group of students about geological time and its relation to physical landscape formation, focusing on the frequency and rate of a number of geological processes that have shaped our planet over time and that are involved in the formation of the current relief. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire…

In recent years, serious games and game-based learning have received growing attention in educational contexts in general and science teaching and learning. They play an especially prominent role in higher education, where they are used to promote content knowledge as well as higher order cognitive skills and competencies such as communication,…

This study sought to gather information through a survey of how newcomer parents' beliefs about technology usage and how they engage with technology as they support their children with twenty-first century literacies. Parent respondents (N = 70) were drawn from two publicly funded schools in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada, where the…

In this research, it is aimed to determine the ideas of primary school teachers about the concept of gamification, the elements of gamification they use, the criteria they take into consideration while using the elements of gamification, the reasons for using them in gamification, the problems they face when using gamification and solutions to…

Fifty adolescents (7th and 10th grades) participated in a ten-session argumentation programme as part of which they produced dialogues and written texts on the topic of whether or not Portugal should receive more refugees. Applying social identity and intergroup threat theories as frameworks, causes for flight and seeking asylum were felt to be…

Teaching cosmology at the undergraduate or high school level requires simplifications and analogies, and inevitably brings the teacher into contact with at least one of the pedagogical interpretations of the expanding Universe. The by far most popular interpretation holds that galaxies in an expanding Universe are stationary, while space itself…

This article describes an investigation into teaching and learning with student-generated animations combined with a representational pedagogy. In particular, it reports on interactive discussions that were stimulated by the students' own animations as well as their critiques of experts' animations. Animations representing views of states of…

Since the release of "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" in 2012, there has been a significant shift toward the use of science and engineering practices that mirror the way scientists do their work (NRC 2012). The "Framework" states, "A focus on practices (in the plural) avoids the mistaken impression that there is…

Sport-related concussions continue to be a serious epidemic for youth participants. A pathway to improper management, created by improper reporting by athletes, lack of recognition by coaches, and lack of access to athletic training services, must be mitigated through effective concussion educational initiatives. The purpose of this study is to…

This research report presents the preliminary findings of mixed-methods study examining the beliefs of trainee teachers regarding a number of 'learning myths', e.g., learning styles and multiple intelligences. Using a cross-sectional experimental design, survey data were collected from 65 pre-service teachers enrolled in a high-profile Bachelor of…

The benefits and deficits of rural education are under-researched. Clarity, in regards to the quality of education and student experience, is essential to guide future policies at all levels of power. Educators require a deeper understanding of educational research to guide their practice and dispel community misconceptions. Increasing student…

Prior research from the field of science communication shows that, upon reading journalistic articles about novel scientific findings, readers who recognize the tentative nature of the findings rate the journalistic article that reports these findings as less credible. Apparently, readers' appraisal is influenced by misconceptions about the…

Light has the most interesting phenomena among physics concepts. We designed the light phenomena conceptual assessment (LPCA) to help teachers measure their students' conceptual understanding of light phenomena. We expected to measure increases in student understanding of light phenomena after learning about the wave and particle nature of light…

Conceptual understanding of calculus is crucial in the fields of applied sciences, business, and engineering and technology subjects. However, the current status indicates that students possess only procedural knowledge developed from rote learning of procedures in calculus without insight of core ideas. Hence, this paper aims to assess students'…

The United States is currently experiencing its most severe measles outbreak in decades, driven in part by parents' belief that vaccines cause autism. That harmful misinformation is contrary to scientific evidence (DeStefano et al. 2013). The CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest multidisciplinary…