Although there has been extensive research on students' understanding of the particulate nature of matter (PNM), there is still a lack of research on contexts that can be used to teach this challenging topic. In a previous design-based research study, the authors developed a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) on the PNM in the context of crystal…

Teaching with analogies is an important pedagogy that helps learners construct abstract conceptions through reasoning with something familiar. Heat concepts were chosen for this study because they have an intangible nature and involve complex mechanisms that often challenge school-aged learners. Learning this kind of complex concept with analogies…

Students' socioeconomic status (SES), school climate, and students' attitudes stand out as important factors that determine academic achievement. The current study investigated the relationship among SES, attitude toward science, school climate, and academic achievement comparatively in terms of countries. Trends in International Mathematics and…

Given the growing trend toward using technology to assess student learning, this investigation examined test mode comparability of student achievement scores obtained from paper-pencil and computerized assessments of statewide End-of-Course and End-of-Grade examinations in the subject areas of high school biology and eighth-grade English Language…

Since 1995, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) implemented the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) as an international comparative study. This article aims at identifying the correlations of science classroom instructions with TIMSS science achievement of eighth graders among…

The purpose of this technical appendix is to share detailed results and more fully describe the sample and methods used to produce the research brief, "COVID's Impact on Science Achievement: Trends from 2019 through 2024. We investigated three main research questions in this brief: 1) How did science achievement in 2021 and 2024 compare to…

Learners need to possess scientific literacy in order to be able to analyze and explain scientific concepts and solve daily life problems. The current study aimed to analyze the potential of the Socio-Science Spirituality learning model to improve the scientific literacy of students at the junior high school level. The sample of this research…

We compared students' performance on a paper-based test (PBT) and three computer-based tests (CBTs). The three computer-based tests used different test navigation and answer selection features, allowing us to examine how these features affect student performance. The study sample consisted of 9,698 fourth through twelfth grade students from across…

Positioned in the Hong Kong education context, this article evaluates the effects of teaching science through home and second languages (i.e. Chinese and English) in Secondary 2 (or eighth grade) science classrooms. A total of 479 students, divided into two language instruction groups, participated in a teaching intervention comprising 16 lessons…

In the present study, two types of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) tools in science, Vocabulary Matching (VM) and Statement Verification for Science (SV-S), a modified Sentence Verification Technique, were compared. Specifically, this study aimed to determine whether the format of information presented (i.e., SV-S vs. VM) produces differences…

This study finds that, breaking with decades of slow improvement, U.S. reading and math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and other assessments have seen historic declines since most states implemented national Common Core English and math curriculum standards six years ago. This descriptive analysis is designed to…

This study examined contributions of academic ability tracking, disciplinary attitudes (science anxiety and self-efficacy), and discipline-specific literacy skills (science and academic vocabulary knowledge) to students' science achievement in a sample of 104 Grade 8 students (78% current or former English learners [ELs]) enrolled in high- versus…

The purpose of this causal comparative study was to test the theory of assessment that relates benchmark assessments to the Georgia middle grades science Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) percentages, controlling for schools who do not administer benchmark assessments versus schools who do administer benchmark assessments for all middle…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the experimental system design related to plasma state on the gifted students' understanding on the subject of the plasma state. To test the research hypothesis, one group pretest-posttest research model was carried out with 18 eighth-grade (4 girls and 14 boys) gifted students in…

Background: Researchers have indicated that assessment practices and methods should support learners' construction of meaningful understanding of knowledge. Understanding students' conceptions of assessment will enable us to construct more realistic, valid and fair assessments. Learners' conceptualization of assessment would be imperative to serve…