The aim of this study is to investigate students' meaning-making of multiple visual representations of epigenetics at different levels of biological organisation, and to discern what visual aspects of the multiple visual representations might influence students' reasoning. Adopting an exploratory approach, we analysed how students made meaning of…

This action research aimed to enhance fluency thinking in the Year 9 Science and Technology course on Genetics by integrating bell ringer exams with inquiry-based learning. The study's objectives were to achieve an 80% pass rate in fluency thinking and to assess student satisfaction with this pedagogical approach. The sample comprised 20 Year 9…

Purpose: The principal aim of the research was to develop Interactive Mobile Learning Modules (IMLM) as an approach to innovative teaching practices in online distance education. Design/methodology/approach: The study employed educational action research, using a quasi-experimental design catering to ninth-grade students (N = 104) attending a…

In the socioscientific issues (SSI) classroom, students need to cross the border between the subcultures of science (i.e., school science vs. everyday science). Traditional school contexts tend to present science as positivistic knowledge and unshakable truth unaffected by sociocultural factors. In contrast, everyday science, including SSI, is…

This research investigated how collaborative e-learning strategies affected the understanding of DNA Replication among the 9th-grade Biology CC class. The study involved 24 diverse students (ages 15-17), including regular education students, English Language Learners (ELLs), and students with IEPs selected through proportional stratified random…

Instead of having their students' first experience with biology that did not address issues of racism in science, Kelsie Fowler and Saraswati Noel created a unit drew on storytelling and artistic expression which is rare in science education, where these modes helped them center what really mattered to them--their Black students' personal…

This study aims to test the effectiveness of a socio-scientific issue (SSI) based instruction through STEM-6E (engage, explore, explain, engineer, enrich, and evaluate). Controversial science topics (e.g. genetically modified organisms) in many countries, especially Indonesia, can be approached via integrated STEM education. One hundred and nine…

Understanding genetic mechanisms affords the ability to provide causal explanations for genetic phenomena. These mechanisms are difficult to teach and learn. It has been shown that students sometimes conceive of genes as traits or as trait-bearing particles. We termed these "nonmechanistic" conceptions of genetic phenomena because they…

Communication skills are one of the most important competencies for 21st century global citizens. Our guiding presupposition was that socioscientific issues (SSIs) could be used as an effective pedagogical tool for promoting students' communication skills by increasing peer interactions, stimulating students' reasoning, and in constructing shared…

This study investigates Swedish biology teachers' inclusion of proteins when teaching genetics in grade nine (students 15-16 years old). For some years, there has been a call to give attention to proteins when teaching genetics as a means of linking the concepts "gene" and "trait". Students are known to have problems with this…

This article reports on the outcomes of an intervention in a Swedish school in which the author, a teacher-researcher, sought to develop students' (14-15 years old) ethical reasoning in science through the use of peer discussions about socio-scientific issues. Prior to the student discussions various prompts were used to highlight different…

High school biology teachers face many challenges as they teach evolution. State standards for evolution may provide support for sound evolution instruction. This study attempts to build upon previous work by investigating teachers' views of evolution standards and their evolution practices in a state where evolution standards have been…

Only recently has cognitive load theory been applied in conceptual change approaches. To the authors' knowledge, theirs is the first study to examine the effects on students' cognitive load of an approach contrary to a refutation text design. The authors combined computer and textbook instruction with involving alternative conceptions (ACs) to…

One goal of project-based science is to promote the development of scientific discourse communities in classrooms. Holding rich high school scientific discussions is challenging, especially when the demands of content and norms of high school science pose challenges to their enactment. There is little research on how high school teachers enact…

The "Central Dogma" of genetics states that one gene, located in a DNA molecule, is ultimately translated into one protein. As important as this idea is, many teachers shy away from teaching the actual mechanism of gene translation, and many students find the concepts abstract and inaccessible. This article describes a unit, called Genetics…