Calls to bring interdisciplinary content and examples into introductory science courses have increased, yet strategies that involve course restructuring often suffer from the need for a significant faculty commitment to motivate change. Minimizing the need for dramatic course reorganization, the structure, reactivity, and chemical biology…

Vision and Change [AAAS, 2011] outlines a blueprint for modernizing biology education by addressing conceptual understanding of key concepts, such as the relationship between structure and function. The document also highlights skills necessary for student success in 21st century Biology, such as the use of modeling and simulation. Here we…

This study was part of the Promoting Science among English Language Learners (P-SELL) efficacy study, a research and development project that implemented a curricular and professional development intervention to improve science achievement of English Language Learners (ELLs) in urban elementary schools. The study used a cluster randomized control…

The results of the National Assessment of Educational Achievement from 2010 to 2013 have shown a downward trend in ninth graders' science average achievement scores from 2011 to 2013. The percentage of students in the Advanced level decreased dramatically from 19.95% in 2010 to 11.48% in 2013, while the percentage of students in the Basic level…

Solving test items might require abilities in test-takers other than the construct the test was designed to assess. Item and student characteristics such as item format or reading comprehension can impact the test result. This experiment is based on cognitive theories of text and picture comprehension. It examines whether integration aids, which…

Physical chemistry I at Texas A&M University is an upper division course requiring mathematical and analytical skills. As such, this course poses a major problem for many Chemistry, Engineering, Biochemistry and Genetics majors. Comparisons between participants and non-participants in Supplemental Instruction for physical chemistry were made…

Alternative learning model that can be used in teaching physics to overcome the problems of lack of student learning achievement is a model of skill training (drill skills, and the concept attainment model. Drill skill model is a teaching technique in which students carry out training activities on what they have learned, so that the material…

Science can be a tool for studying the human and the natural surroundings, both directly and indirectly. The learning process can directly develop the competence to be able to study nature scientifically. Science education is hoped to be more inquiry that helps students gain experience and understand the natural surroundings. This study aims to…

To develop scientific literacy, elementary students should engage in knowledge building of core concepts through scientific practice (Duschl, Schweingruber, & Schouse, 2007). A core scientific practice is engagement in scientific modeling to build conceptual understanding about discipline-specific concepts. Yet scientific modeling remains…

Anatomy is a foundational component of biological sciences and medical education and is important for a variety of clinical tasks. To augment current curriculum and improve students' spatial knowledge of anatomy, many educators, anatomists, and researchers use three-dimensional (3D) visualization technologies. This article reviews 3D display…

This study investigated the relationship between parental involvement in children's education and the academic achievement of primary six pupils in Edo State, Nigeria. The ex-post facto research design was employed in this study. The sample consisted of 1,895 primary six pupils (1,024 males and 863 females drawn from 37,908 primary six pupils in…

Recent studies have suggested that performance-related differences between private and public schools disappear once student background characteristics are accounted for. However, given the sometimes significant variation in economic, social and cultural norms across countries these findings may not have universal relevance. The main purpose of…

This study seeks to develop a better understanding of the underrepresentation of women in science and engineering by analyzing the gender gaps (a) in the interest in pursuing a science degree and (b) on science achievement. We use national-level college admissions data to examine gender differences and to explore the association between these…

Both the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the new AP Chemistry curriculum focus on a deeper understanding of content, as well as application of concepts within science classes. A well accepted research-based method for improving student understanding and the ability to apply many of the abstract concepts presented in chemistry is…

We examined multimodality (the representation of information in multiple semiotic modes) in the context of international test comparisons. Using Program of International Student Assessment (PISA)-2009 data, we examined the correlation of the difficulty of science items and the complexity of their illustrations. We observed statistically…