This study analyzed cognitive representations of knowledge from the chemistry of matter unit in a ninth-grade science textbook--the only authorized textbook in Saudi Arabia. It examined textual and visual information from two lessons in order to identify the textbook's introduction of concepts, linguistic context, integration of concepts, and the…

Peer assessment has been shown to advance learning, for example, by improving one's work, but the variance of learning benefits within or between studies has not been explained. The purpose of this case study was to examine what kinds of pathways students have through peer assessment and to study which factors affect them when peer assessment is…

We propose explicit and implicit approaches for the teaching of acid-base chemistry based on research into the history and nature of science (NoS). To support these instructional proposals, we identify four rationales for students to understand acid-base processes: daily life, socio-scientific, curriculum, and history of science. The extensive…

Classroom environment, family, and peers are important factors in influencing students' science learning. The primary aim of this study was to examine the effects of three environmental factors related to science learning (motivating science class, family models, and peer models) on students' approaches to learning science (deep approach and…

The topic of natural selection presents challenges to high school students since it requires understanding of an emergent process, which is a missing schema for most students. Many interventions for teaching natural selection have limited effect in bringing about substantial ontological conceptual change. This study evaluates the effectiveness of…

Scientific literacy reflects an understanding of science as it relates to use of science in real-world contexts. Socioscientific issues (SSIs) are real-world problems that are complex in their acknowledgement of social as well as scientific aspects of the problem and are well-suited to support scientific literacy objectives. Because of their…

As science classrooms become more linguistically diverse, it is becoming increasingly important that pre-service teachers (PSTs) are trained with the skills and knowledge they need to support science learning for all students, especially English Learners. The purpose of this study was to determine how 11 secondary science PSTs' instructional…

This paper examines the roles of multimodality and thematic patterns in the teaching of the particle model of matter. Although the particle model is a fundamental topic in science education, there is no consensus on (1) whether or not the model should be introduced in early grades and (2) how to introduce the model to students for the very first…

Assessments of teacher content knowledge are increasingly designed to provide evidence of the content knowledge needed to carry out the moment-to-moment work of teaching. Often these assessments focus on content knowledge only used in teaching with the goal of testing types of professional content knowledge. In this paper, we argue that while this…

Making direct connections between humanity and the environment is of ever-increasing importance in the context of today's environmental crisis. We used qualitative content analysis of precollege- and college-level introductory environmental science textbook case studies to study how they portray humanity's link to the environment. We assessed case…

Using Revised Bloom's Taxonomy (RBT), this study has examined the intellectual demands of the Senior High School Chemistry Curriculum (SHSCC) in China from a socio-historical perspective. Document analysis was adopted as a research method to analyze knowledge types and cognitive processes, the two dimensions of the cognitive learning objectives in…

This research aims at investigating the effect of Complex Instruction integrated with Team Product (CITP) learning model on students' creative thinking skills, critical thinking skills, metacognitive skills, scientific attitudes, cognitive learning results, and retention. This research used quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest…

The goal of this research is to provide a rich set of connections between two fields: (i) Nanoscale science and technology (NST) and (ii) topics from a common middle school physics curriculum. NST is emerging as one of the most promising new fields of the 21st century, which is one of the many arguments for including NST topics in secondary…

The glowing discharges of plasma obtained by introducing direct current high voltages between two electrodes in a chamber that contains a low pressure gas produces a spectacular effect that makes it attractive to be used as a laboratory experiment for students. Setting up this experiment is however costly and has crucial safety issues to be…

Today's educational challenges necessitate the creative use of digital technology to adapt an effective pedagogical approach in chemistry teaching. While various visualization tools have been developed to improve visual-spatial skills, previous studies on digital technology interventions provide limited findings and show moderate effects on…