A novel instructional computer simulation that incorporates a dynamic analogy to represent Le Chatelier's Principle was designed to investigate the contribution of this feature to students' understanding. Two groups of 12th grade Chemistry students (n=15) interacted with the computer simulation during the study. Both groups did the same…

This study examines Indonesian students' understanding of conservation of matter, balancing of equations and stoichiometry. Eight hundred and sixty-seven Grade 12 students from 22 schools across four different cities in two developed provinces in Indonesia participated in the study. Nineteen teachers also participated in order to validate the…

This document sets forth recommendations for the design of a new science assessment. The assessment resulting from this framework will start a new NAEP science trend (i.e., measure of student progress in science) beginning in 2009. This framework represents a unique opportunity to build on previous NAEP science work as well as key developments in…

Research on conceptual change is still a powerful framework for empirical investigations on students' learning of science. During recent years, an increasing body of research has explored students' concepts prior and subsequent to instruction, leading to an extensive documentation of students' concepts including the difficulties and opportunities…