Existing studies report on secondary school students' misconceptions related to climate change; they also report on the methods of teaching as reinforcing misconceptions. This quasi-experimental study was designed to test the null hypothesis that a curriculum based on constructivist principles does not lead to greater understanding and fewer…

Analyzing evolutionary relationships requires that students have a thorough understanding of evidence and of how scientists use evidence to develop these relationships. In this lesson sequence, students work in groups to process many different lines of evidence of evolutionary relationships between ungulates, then construct a scientific argument…

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between explicit and implicit forms of Theory of Mind reasoning and to test the influence of experience on implicit Theory of Mind reasoning in individuals with autism spectrum disorders and in neurotypical adults. Results from two standard explicit Theory of Mind tasks are mixed: Individuals with…

This study investigates the effect of a conceptual change approach over traditional instruction on students' understanding of DNA, gene and chromosome concepts. 52 10th grade students belonging two different classes participated the study. One of the classes was assigned randomly to the control group, and the other class was assigned randomly to…

Students often misinterpret the equal sign (=) as operational instead of relational. Research indicates misinterpretation of the equal sign occurs because students receive relatively little exposure to equations that promote relational understanding of the equal sign. No study, however, has examined effects of nonstandard equations on the equation…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the use of 3-D printed models as an instructional tool in a middle school science classroom for students with visual impairments and compare their use to traditional tactile graphics for aiding conceptual understanding of geoscience concepts. Specifically, this study examined if the students'…

This article examines the impact of an outdoor orientation program (OOP) on a cohort of first-year university students who participated in a canoe trip facilitated by peer leaders. The curriculum included training for outdoor skills and transitional guidance to university life (i.e., strategies for time management, critical thinking, becoming…

Visualizing the chemical structure and dynamics of particles has been challenging for many students; therefore, various visualizations and tools have been used in chemistry education. For science educators, it has been important to understand how students visualize and represent particular phenomena--i.e., their mental models-- to design more…

Few studies have explored the learning difficulties and misconceptions that students encounter when using information and communication technology for e-learning. To address this issue, this research developed a system for evaluating the learning efficiency of medical students by applying two-tier diagnosis assessment. The effectiveness of the…

This paper is based on my own practice as a teacher educator at a university in the north-east of England and focuses on the effectiveness of dialogue as a tool for teaching the topic of socio-economic disadvantage in initial teacher education (ITE). The research was triggered by questions which had emerged within my work, about the compatibility…

The characteristics of successful MOOCs were explored in this study. Thousands of student reviews regarding five xMOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) in the fields of software, science, and management were extracted from the Coursetalk website and analyzed by quantitative and qualitative methods using the Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000)…

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the course materials developed in accordance with 7E model in the unit of electromagnetism in high school physics class on students' conceptual success. The present study was conducted with a total of 52 11th grade students in two separate classrooms at a high school. The action research…

Previous research has demonstrated that most low-income students who do not apply for aid--despite a large percentage of these students being eligible to receive aid--believe that they are ineligible. According to the 2011-12 National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey (NPSAS) where students were given a choice of five reasons why they did not apply…

The landscape of public education retirement plans is in an upheaval. A variety of economic, demographic, and political factors make it increasingly difficult for defined-benefit pension plans alone to provide educators with an adequate retirement. As a result, for the nearly seven million educators in America's public primary and secondary…

In "Finding Superman," some of the most prominent educational thinkers of our time examine the pressing issues of educational equity and excellence brought to light in Davis Guggenheim's popular documentary, "Waiting for Superman." The film's portrayal of urban public schools as uniform failures and charter schools as the only viable alternative…