The authors of this article, all of whom have been a part of this effort to assess argumentation in literacy-rich science curriculum, have struggled with our attempts to build 3 argument-related assessments--understanding, critiquing, and constructing arguments about scientific phenomena in both oral and written modes. Loosely affiliated with the…

Process diagrams are important tools in biology for explaining processes such as protein synthesis, compound cycles and the like. The aim of the present study was to measure the ability to solve process-diagram problems in biology and its relationship with prior knowledge, spatial ability and working memory. For this purpose, we developed a test…

Many national policy documents underscore the importance of 21st century skills, including critical thinking. In parallel, recent American frameworks for K-12 Science education call for the development of critical thinking skills in science, also referred to as science inquiry skills/practices. Assessment of these skills is necessary, as indicated…

Teaching students to use and interpret different representational tools is critically important if they are to be scientifically literate, to understand how scientific ideas and concepts are represented and to appreciate how scientists think and act. Moreover, students not only need to be competent at using and explaining representations and…

This study examined the effectiveness of Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) as an instructional model in a general chemistry laboratory course. The study was conducted over the course of ten experimental sessions with 125 pre-service science teachers. The participants' level of reflective thinking about the ADI activities, changes in their science…

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of an instructional intervention on enhancement the pre-service science teachers' (PSTs) science process skills (SPSs) and to identify problems in using SPSs through Laboratory Applications in Science Education-I course (LASE-I). One group pretest-posttest pre-experimental design was employed. An…

The aim of this study was to examine the effect, after intervention on both experimental and control groups, of constructionism and neurocognitive-based teaching model, and conventional teaching model, on the science learning outcomes and creative thinking of Grade 11 students. The researchers developed a constructionism and neurocognitive-based…

The inadequacy of experimental activities (or lack of equipment) in science courses in rural parts of Turkey negatively effects students' acquisition of scientific thinking and inquiry skills. The fact that success rates are notably low in international assessments demonstrates the necessity to adopt "different" approaches apart from the…

In this study the authors set out to better understand the relationship between teacher knowledge of science and student learning. The authors administered identical multiple-choice assessment items both to teachers of middle school physical science and to their students throughout the school year. The authors found that teachers who have strong…

Electrochemical water oxidation is a major focus of solar energy conversion efforts. A new laboratory experiment has been developed that utilizes real-time, hands-on research to discover catalysts for solar energy conversion. The HARPOON, or Heterogeneous Anodes Rapidly Perused for Oxygen Overpotential Neutralization, experiment allows an array of…

This article notes the convergence of recent thinking in neuroscience and grounded cognition regarding the way we understand mental representation and recollection: ideas are dynamic and multi-modal, actively created at the point of recall. Also, neurophysiologically, re-entrant signalling among cortical circuits allows non-conscious processing to…

The study aims to investigate the effect of using constructivist learning model in teaching science, especially in the subject of light: its nature, mirrors, lens, and properties, on the achievement of eighth-grade students and their scientific thinking. The study sample consisted of (136) male and female 8th graders were chosen from two basic…

Interpreting and creating graphs plays a critical role in scientific practice. The K-12 Next Generation Science Standards call for students to use graphs for scientific modeling, reasoning, and communication. To measure progress on this dimension, we need valid and reliable measures of graph understanding in science. In this research, we designed…

Citizen science programs provide opportunities for students to help professional scientists while fostering science achievement and motivation. Instruments which measure the effects of this type of programs on student motivational beliefs are limited. The purpose of this study was to describe the process of examining the reliability and validity…

Experiments are essential for both doing science and learning science. The aim of the German youth science fair, "Jugend forscht," is to encourage scientific thinking and inquiry methods such as experimentation. Based on 57 interviews with participants of the competition, this study summarises students' conceptions and steps of learning…