Despite the importance of evolution to understand biology, there is significant evidence that many biology teachers have difficulties to successfully teach this topic. The purpose of this study is to describe procedures by which a paper-and-pencil instrument to assess teachers' pedagogical content knowledge for evolution (PCK[subscript evo]) was…

Biology instructors use concept assessments in their courses to gauge student understanding of important disciplinary ideas. Instructors can choose to administer concept assessments based on participation (i.e., lower stakes) or the correctness of responses (i.e., higher stakes), and students can complete the assessment in an in-class or…

This study developed and validated the Science Practice Scale (SPS) and investigated the implementation of scientific teaching practices by Grade 8 science teachers in Jordan. The responses of 235 8th grade science teachers who participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study [TIMSS] of 2019 were analysed using the Rasch…

Transfer of learning is a fundamental goal of education but is challenging to achieve, especially where far transfer to remote contexts is at stake. How can we improve learners' flexible application of knowledge to distant domains? In a counterintuitive phenomenon termed the "derring effect," deliberately committing and correcting errors…

Picture book reading is essential in the early stages of learning and development. The current study aimed to incorporate picture books to improve first graders' scientific thinking, including scientific reasoning and creativity. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design. There were 24 students in the experimental group and 23 in the…

Background: Formative assessments are needed to enable monitoring how student knowledge develops throughout a unit. Constructed response items which require learners to formulate their own free-text responses are well suited for testing their active knowledge. However, assessing such constructed responses in an automated fashion is a complex task…

As COVID-19 restrictions are removed, instructors are faced with two questions: should the course be taught online, via mixed-mode, or through traditional methods, and what effect did online instruction have on students in the course in regards regarding enrolled across eight semesters of metabolism courses using traditional, mixed-mode, and…

In the 21st-century, we need a generation who can read and face the challenges of the times. The research aimed to master patterns of science with the next generation science standards (NGSS) standards of junior high school students in north coastal areas of Java Island. The research method is quantitative expose-facto and subjects were 228…

Students' environmental knowledge and sustainability awareness are important competencies to prepare them to face global environmental challenges. The study aimed to evaluate the gender difference and correlation between students' environmental knowledge, sustainability awareness, and sustainability practice frequency after Education for…

The main goal of this study was to validate the strategy for the assessment of the cognitive complexity of chemical kinetics exam items. The strategy included three steps: 1) assessment of the difficulty of concepts, 2) assessment of distractor value, and 3) assessment of concepts' interactivity. One of the tasks was to determine whether there…

Two-tiered assessment structures with paired content and confidence items are frequently used within chemistry assessments to stimulate and measure students' metacognition. The confidence judgment is designed to promote students' reflection on their application of content knowledge and can be characterized as calibrated or miscalibrated based on…

Digital automated assessment is a valuable and time-efficient tool for educators to provide immediate and objective feedback to learners. Automated assessment, however, puts high demands on the quality of the questions, alignment with the intended learning outcomes, and the quality of the feedback provided to the learners. We here describe the…

This study describes the role that Rasch measurement played in the development of assessments aligned to the "Next Generation Science Standards," tasks that require students to use the three dimensions of science practices, disciplinary core ideas and cross-cutting concepts to make sense of energy-related phenomena. A set of 27…

Much of the focus of international comparative studies of students' achievement has been on New Zealand students' falling standards. Using the most recent findings from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and, in particular, Year 9 New Zealand students' performance in specific items, this article suggests that there…

Responsive coaching at engage2learn is an innovative and evidence-based solution. This 2022-2023 study, paired with previous reports, compellingly validates the efficacy of the engage2learn program by exploring end-of-year STAAR test performance for Math and Science among Grades 6-8. LXD Research, an independent research firm, analyzed educator…