Free-response research-based assessments, like the Colorado Upper-division Electrostatics Diagnostic (CUE), provide rich, fine-grained information about students' reasoning. However, because of the difficulties inherent in scoring these assessments, the majority of the large-scale conceptual assessments in physics are multiple choice. To increase…

Direct instruction is a proven effective method to strengthen children's ability to design unconfounded experiments using the control-of-variables strategy (CVS). Recent research suggests that task segmentation can also promote children's use of this strategy. The present study investigated this assumption by comparing the relative…

The National Research Council emphasizes the centrality of discourse and practices associated with constructing, evaluating, and using scientific explanations. These expectations increase already daunting challenges for those who teach science at the elementary school level. This study followed a multiparticipant case study approach examining…

Many single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified within the "Caenorhabditis elegans" genome. SNPs present in the genomes of two isogenic "C. elegans" strains have been routinely used as a tool in forward genetics to map a mutation to a particular chromosome. This article describes a laboratory exercise in which…

This article examines the ways in which art and aesthetics provide powerful and rich models for inquiry and connection, facilitating fresh perception, conceptualization, and engagement in qualitative research. The very engagement with research parallels the engagement with the arts. In this engagement, problem setting and problem solving, the…

This study investigated development of students' scientific argumentation levels in the applications made with Problem-Based Computer-Aided Material (PBCAM) designed about Human Endocrine System. The case study method was used: The study group was formed of 43 students in the 11th grade of the science high school in Rize. Human Endocrine System…

The aim of the study is to analyse teachers' efforts to develop secondary school students' knowledge and argumentation skills of what constitutes scientific theories. The analysis is based on Leontiev's three-level structure of activity (activity, action, and operation), as these levels correspond to the questions why, what, and how content is…

Writing in science is a natural way to integrate science and literacy and meet the goals set by the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") and the "Common Core State Standards" ("CCSS"), which call for learners to be engaged with the language of science. This means that students should record…

Students best learn science through a combination of science inquiry and language learning. This article presents a series of chemistry lessons on the naming of compounds. The weeklong unit focuses on patterns across compound names and chemical formulas and addresses several of the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States…

This research investigates the extent to which creative processes can be fostered through computer gaming. It focuses on creative components in games that have been specifically designed for educational purposes: Digital Game Based Learning (DGBL). A behavior analysis for measuring the creative potential of computer game activities and learning…

Casual games are everywhere. People play them throughout life to pass the time, to engage in social interactions, and to learn. However, their simplicity and use in distraction-heavy environments can attenuate their potential for learning. This experimental study explored the effects playing an online, casual game has on awareness of human…

We have developed a process-oriented chemistry laboratory curriculum for non-science majors. The purpose of this study is both to explore university students' understanding of chemistry processes and to evaluate the quality of evidence students use to support their claims regarding chemistry processes in a process-oriented chemistry laboratory…

This paper reports on a study situated in a one-year project "Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) for Mobile Knowledge Building," aiming at investigating how primary school students developed their inquiry skills in science learning in BYOD-supported learning environments. Student perceptions of the BYOD-supported inquiry experience were also…

The purpose of this study is to reveal the pre-service science teachers' difficulties about the concept of atoms. The data was collected from two different sources: The Draw an Atom Test (DAAT) and face-to-face interviews. Draw an atom test (DAAT) were administered to the 142 science teacher candidates. To elaborate the results, the researcher…

In this mixed methods study, the researchers developed a video-based measure called a "Prediction Assessment" to determine preservice elementary teachers' abilities to predict students' scientific reasoning. The instrument is based on teachers' need to develop pedagogical content knowledge for teaching science. Developing a knowledge…