According to Einstein's general theory of relativity, a clock runs more slowly if it is close to a large gravitating object. This principle was highlighted in the movie "Interstellar," in which the main character spends several hours on a planet orbiting a massive black hole, and returns to find that his young daughter has become an…

This research explores the effect of mental model-based learning on understanding school chemistry. The learning activity included group discussion, presentation and class discussion. Pre-service chemistry teachers (PCT) analyzed school chemistry topics in relation to essential underlying concepts. The development of mental models was monitored…

Virtual reality (VR) can provide access to otherwise inaccessible aspects of the world and thus promote science learning. We developed a VR learning tool about the water cycle, with 11 lessons for classroom teaching at the primary level. We assessed prior knowledge before a four-week intervention and learning outcomes directly after the…

In STEM education, the engineering design process serves as a pedagogical strategy to connect science and mathematics concepts. While STEM approaches are increasingly favored in science courses, the role of mathematics in integrated STEM activities is often overlooked, despite its foundational importance across STEM disciplines. This manuscript…

This study investigates the progression of students' meaning-making of epigenetic phenomena while discussing multiple visual representations depicted at different levels of biological organization. Semi-structured focus group sessions involving ninth-grade students (aged 15-16) from a Swedish lower secondary school were video recorded. Students'…

In this study, the impact of the Environmental and Climate Change Education program on the perceptions of 4th-grade students regarding environmental issues, climate change, and sustainability was investigated. The study group consisted of 22 (12 boys, 10 girls) 4th-grade students aged between 9-10 years, who were all studying in the same class at…

This study examined the effects of multisensory storytelling facilitated through iPads on the understanding of science concepts related to botany among students with severe intellectual disability (ID). A single-subject, multiple- baseline design was used to evaluate three participants diagnosed with severe ID. During the intervention phase,…

Recently, there has been an increased interest in the associations between theory of mind (ToM), the ability to infer others' mental states, and academic functioning in middle childhood including scientific reasoning. This study follows this trend and addresses two gaps in the literature. First, it examines whether individual differences in ToM…

Despite continued efforts to address this issue, many students still exhibit misunderstandings regarding Newton's laws. These misconceptions include beliefs, such as every movement requires a force, that force is directly proportional to velocity, and that action-reaction forces can differ in magnitude. To mitigate these misunderstandings,…

In science education, the abstraction and complexity of scientific concepts are usually stumbling blocks that prevent students from learning science. Recently, augmented reality (AR) has offered transformative potential to support scientific concept learning by visualizing scientific phenomena and enhancing students' experiences. However, the lack…

This paper presents a methodological approach based on the use of complex networks to analyze the structure and content of curricula. We analyze the concept network built from the final year of a particular high school physics curriculum, as well as that of mathematics. We examine the most central nodes in each case, the community structures…

Background/purpose: This research aims to integrate Islamic values into science teaching through meaning-based learning to enhance students' moral sensitivity. Materials/methods: Design-based research by Borg and Gall was used to develop learning tools, involving 24 students for moral sensitivity questionnaire testing, 24 students for limited…

This mixed-methods study investigated the effectiveness of Generative AI (GenAI) powered intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) in undergraduate physics education, specifically comparing learning outcomes between students using Khanmigo (Khan Academy's AI tutor) and the Google search engine. The study involved 69 undergraduate students divided into…

On August 16, 1960, at 7:12 a.m., United States Air Force Captain Joseph W. Kittinger Jr. looked out from his balloon gondola at a height of over 19 miles and… jumped. Kittinger's altitude and free-fall speed record lasted until Felix Baumgartner's jump from a height of nearly 24 miles on Oct. 14, 2012. Baumgartner broke several records, including…

The central pedagogical principle on which the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) are built is that of three-dimensional learning. This principle posits that it is through meaningful integration of the disciplinary core ideas (DCIs), science and engineering practices (SEPs), and crosscutting concepts (CCCs) that students will…