One argument for keeping the physics Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is that it can help applicants who might otherwise be missed in the admissions process stand out. In this work, we evaluate whether this claim is supported by physics graduate school admissions decisions. We used admissions data from five Ph.D.-granting physics departments over a…

The aim of this study is to reveal the effect of using virtual lab application in science teaching on students' academic achievement and students' views on virtual lab application. The study group of the research consists of 62 students studying in the 8th grade of a secondary school in Antalya in the 2019-2020 academic years. Mixed method design…

The incorporation of epistemic aspects of science in science education continues to be a challenge for researchers and practitioners. The paper presents an empirical study investigating how epistemic framing of scientific methods can be incorporated in science teaching, learning and summative assessment, and what impact such framing has on student…

Differences in achievement between disadvantaged pupils and their more advantaged peers are a focus for policy in all parts of the UK. A gap in educational outcomes between pupils from less-affluent backgrounds compared to their peers is evident by the time they start school and only widens as they move through the school years. In 2018, nearly 80…

This study used mixed methods to investigate the relationships between parental leave policy components and academic achievement measured by TIMSS and PIRLS. Qualitative document analysis was used to analyze the policy documents and available literature on all the parental leave policies that had been implemented early enough to potentially affect…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the implementation phase of the DuFour model of professional learning communities (PLCs) and students' achievement. A survey was emailed via Qualtrics to elementary principals throughout the Minnesota Elementary Principals' Association's (MESPA) central, northern, northeast, west,…

This dissertation aims to investigate the effect size measures of differential item functioning (DIF) detection in the context of cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs). A variety of DIF detection techniques have been developed in the context of CDMs. However, most of the DIF detection procedures focus on the null hypothesis significance test. Few…

This is the second of 2 reports that look at the results of TIMSS 2023 and Australia's performance. This report, Volume II, presents the results from the contextual questionnaires, and examines the home, school, and classroom contexts in which learning and achievement occur, as well as student attitudes. Each chapter focuses on different…

Ellwood's and Abrams's paper, "Students's social interaction in inquiry-based science education: how experiences of flow can increase motivation and achievement," describes two groups of students and their experiences in an extended inquiry unit. For one of these, the Off-Campus group, several educational aspects were enhanced compared…

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of inquiry-based learning approach and emotional intelligence on students' science achievement levels. Within a quasi-experimental research design (pre and post-test), the sample of the research comprised of 56 grade 7 students drawn from two classes at different schools in Binjai, Indonesia. In…

Quantum physics challenges our views of the physical world and describes phenomena that cannot be directly observed. The use of language is hence essential in the teaching of quantum physics. With a sociocultural view of learning, we investigate characteristics of preuniversity students' small-group discussions and their potential for enhancing…

Making accurate, manageable assessments of children's scientific understanding, skills and progress is one of the biggest challenges facing primary teachers. In Wales, where Statutory Assessment Tests (SATs) at age 11 were phased out in 2005, teacher assessment has been the only source of pupil attainment data in science for a much longer period…

Even though student questioning is the key aspect of inquiry learning, students ask very few questions in Science classrooms. This research aimed to increase the number of high-level questions posed by primary students during science lessons. An experiment was designed in which the experimental group was taught about the taxonomy of questions that…

It is often claimed that engineering projects improve student achievement in mathematics and science, but research on this topic has shown that many projects do not live up to the claim (Teacher Advisory Council, 2009). Ideally, undertaking a science project should be motivating, while also helping students to understand the interplay between…

The purpose of this article is to discuss the use of explicit instruction in the curriculum area of science where non-explicit approaches (e.g., discovery learning) are often used. While there has been a relative paucity of research on explicit instruction in science classrooms, we argue that explicit instruction, particularly when it is embedded…