The current study aims to explore how children explain the concepts of biology and how biological knowledge develops across ages by focusing on the structure and functions of the digestive system. The study was conducted with 60 children. The data were collected through the interviews conducted within a think-aloud protocol. The interview data…

Learning progressions (LPs) are hypothetical models of how learning in a domain develops over time with appropriate instruction. In the domain of genetics, there are two independently developed alternative LPs. The main difference between the two progressions hinges on their assumptions regarding the accessibility of classical (Mendelian) versus…

Preschool children learn through their senses. Children learn language, daily life skills, concepts and many other things through their senses. Thus, preschool educational environments and preschool educational activities should stimulate children's senses. In this context, preschool science activities and experiments have positive effects upon…

Research in science in early childhood is an area that has not received much attention (Fleer, M., & Robbins, J. (2003). "Hit and run research" with "hit and miss" results in early childhood science education. "Research in Science Education," 33, 405-431.) and it has been reported that early children teachers lack…

Geoscientists analyze and integrate spatial and temporal information at a range of scales to understand Earth processes. Despite this, the concept of scale is ill defined and taught unevenly across the K-16 continuum. This literature review focuses on two meanings of scale: one as the magnitude of the extent of a dimension and the other as a…

Recent calls to action urge sweeping reform in science education, advocating for improved learning for "all" students--including those majoring in fields beyond the sciences. However, little work has been done to characterize the differences--if any exist--between students planning a career in science and those studying other…

In this work, we present a teaching-learning sequence on colour intended to a pre-service elementary teacher programme informed by History and Philosophy of Science. Working in a socio-constructivist framework, we made an excursion on the history of colour. Our excursion through history of colour, as well as the reported misconception on colour…

Context-based science courses stimulate students to reconstruct the information presented by connecting to their prior knowledge and experiences. However, students need support. Formative assessments inform both teacher and students about students' knowledge deficiencies and misconceptions and how students can be supported. Research on formative…

The purpose of this paper is to assess the validity of multiple-choice questions in measuring fourth grade students' ability to interpret graphs related to physical science topics such as motion and temperature. We administered a test including 6 multiple-choice questions to 28 fourth grade students. Students were asked to explain their thinking…

An efficient way to improve the quality of education in critical thinking is developing the better tests. The test has been shifted towards the use of computer-based procedures. Lack of specific topic of critical thinking tests in science and the advanced of technology made the researcher intended to develop and validate a test to measure…

The purpose of this study is to create a short comic story about historical emergence of Planck's explanation of blackbody radiation and to investigate what students learn from it and what they think about the usage of comics in modern physics course. The participants are a small group of undergraduate students studying at department of science…

Energy is a critically important topic in the K-12 science curriculum, with many applications in the earth, physical, and life sciences and in engineering and technology. To meet the challenges associated with teaching energy, new tools and assessment instruments are needed. In this work we describe the development of a three-tier assessment…

Mixed Reality learning environments can provide opportunities to educationally enhance previously isolated scientific concepts by using art and technology as mediums for understanding the world. Participatory experiences provide a kinetic means of comprehending often-abstract knowledge, creating the conditions for sensory learning that is…

This article describes a lesson on the greenhouse effect in which students explore blackbody radiation and Wien's law. The lesson, which has been tested in a variety of high school physics classrooms, uses probeware and online simulations and combines two well-established instructional strategies: the 5E Learning Cycle (Bybee et al. 2006) and the…

Students often face difficulties when presented with chemical structures and asked to relate them to properties of those substances. Learning to relate structures to properties, both in predicting properties based on chemical structures and interpreting properties to infer structure, is pivotal in students' education in chemistry. This troublesome…