Critical and creative thinking abilities are part of 21st century skills that have not been well utilized. One effort to improve these abilities can be through project-based learning (PjBL). This quantitative study aims to determine the effect of the PjBL model on students' critical thinking and creative thinking abilities on the ecosystem…

This action research study aimed to find ways to adjust my practice by incorporating inquiry-based, science activities and virtual simulations to improve student conceptual understanding of physical and chemical changes. A multi-lesson, curricular intervention combining inquiry-based activities and virtual simulations was developed using…

Spatial skills, which represent the ability to mentally manipulate objects (Schneider & McGrew, 2012; Atit et al., 2020) have been shown to be correlated with entrance, persistence and success in STEM (Shea et al., 2001; Wai et al., 2009). Specifically, these skills have been shown to be necessary to geologists and geoscientists (Hegarty,…

Understanding mechanisms underpinning formation of convection currents is pivotal for developing explanations of plate tectonics when teaching Geoscience topics. While student generated diagrams explaining convection currents may be used to evaluate student conceptual understanding and alternative conceptions in this topic, students may need…

With many universities now admitting students into their science programs with little or no prior knowledge of the relevant field, significant challenges arise in the way these fields are introduced. Challenges mount with various preconceived ideas regarding the levels of difficulty, thus necessitating introductory concepts be presented in…

Student performance on open-response calculations involving acid and base solutions before and after instruction in general chemistry and analytical chemistry courses was compared with the output from the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT. Applying a theoretical model of expertise for problem solving that includes problem conceptualization,…

How do cultural heritage scientists and art conservators identify pigments and other painting media in a decorated object or painting, preferably without taking samples that could potentially damage the artwork? A major emphasis in the characterization, authentication, and conservation of works of art and cultural heritage objects is the use of…

In addressing the need for safer and more accessible chemistry lab procedures, this work integrates green chemistry and small-scale chemistry concepts to serve as a laboratory model for both qualitative and quantitative analyses of iron(III). An aqueous extract of Indian gooseberry is utilized as a natural reagent to form a complex with iron(III),…

This study highlights the necessity and effects of using worksheets to identify and correct potential gaps, to validate prior knowledge that will be related to new information, concepts, or procedures, as well as the use of portfolios for gathering, selecting, and structuring information to be utilized in later stages. The study involved 79…

The frequently used analogy of a massive ball distorting an elastic sheet, which is used to illustrate why mass causes spacetime curvature and gravitational attraction, is criticized in this article. A different analogy that draws on the students' previous knowledge of spacetime diagrams in special relativity is suggested.

This article aims to introduce the actinides and some aspects of nuclear chemistry to teachers and their students. The actinides are a group of f-block elements with atomic numbers from 90 to 103. (The term 'actinoids' encompasses both the actinides and actinium itself). All of the actinides are radioactive but they also have a rich inorganic…

All analytical techniques are governed by the principles of physical chemistry, and chromatography is certainly no exception. By examining the underlying concepts of size exclusion chromatography (SEC), students can gain greater appreciation of and insight into the science and utility of thermodynamics, as well as solution properties of…

People use commonsense science knowledge to flexibly explain, predict, and manipulate the world around them, yet we lack computational models of how this commonsense science knowledge is represented, acquired, utilized, and revised. This is an important challenge for cognitive science: Building higher order computational models in this area will…

Care must be taken representing waves traveling in opposite directions. Erroneous results can occur when combining waves with the popular convention where a wave traveling to the right is [psi][subscript R] (x,t) = A sin (kx-[omega]t) and a left-traveling wave is [psi] (x,t) = A sin (kx + [omega]t). An easily overlooked pitfall is pointed out and…

This work describes a way to study uniform circular motion (UCM) using a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Robotics Invention System (RIS) stepper motor with a steel ball attached to a string. The equipment is inexpensive and the resulting motion takes place on a human scale. Times and lengths can be measured with a stopwatch and a meterstick, respectively. In…