Engineering design that requires mathematical analysis, scientific understanding, and technology is critical for preparing students for solving engineering problems. In simulated design environments, students are expected to learn about science and engineering through their design. However, there is a lack of understanding concerning linking…

There is a large amount of research that indicates that the use of 3DMP in STEM education improves students' knowledge, motivation, and participation in the learning process. Nevertheless, despite the existing attempts to market 3DMP in education, its adoption in schools remains low. A number of studies with teachers in secondary schools and…

Interpreting and creating computational systems models is an important goal of science education. One aspect of computational systems modeling that is supported by modeling, systems thinking, and computational thinking literature is "testing, evaluating, and debugging models." Through testing and debugging, students can identify aspects…

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made remarkable strides in recent years, finding applications in various fields, including chemistry research and industry. Its integration into chemistry education has gained attention more recently, particularly with the advent of generative AI (GAI) tools. However, there is a need to understand how teachers'…

Amid the maker movement, educators are proposing various making activities with programmable artifacts to prepare students for coping with the challenges in the twenty-first century. Today, the "4C" skills--critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration--are regarded as significant learning outcomes in Science,…

Current technology has the capacity for affording a virtual experience that challenges the notion of a teaching laboratory for undergraduate science and engineering students. Though the potential of virtual laboratories (V-Labs) has been extolled and investigated in a number of areas, this research has not been synthesized for the context of…

Questions around the use and regulation of Generative AI (GenAI) in educational contexts are widespread among both students and educators; an important step toward addressing these questions is to gain a full and nuanced understanding of the perspectives at play. To that end, this study surveyed 742 biology students across nine higher education…

Graphing is an important practice for scientists and in K-16 science curricula. Graphs can be constructed using an array of software packages as well as by hand, with pen-and-paper. However, we have an incomplete understanding of how students' graphing practice vary by graphing environment; differences could affect how best to teach and assess…

High-quality science assessments are multi-dimensional. They promote disciplinary practices, core ideas, cross-cutting concepts, and science sense-making. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), specifically multimodal large language models (MLLMs), to annotate and provide improvement…

This article reports on a case study that aims to help students develop mechanistic reasoning through constructing a model based stop-motion animation of a physical phenomenon. Mechanistic reasoning is a valuable thinking strategy for students in trying to make sense of scientific phenomena. Ten ninth-grade students used stop-motion software to…

Introductory courses in biology often lack sufficient emphasis on quantitative skills and interdisciplinary problem solving, leaving many students unprepared for more advanced biology coursework and hampering their ability to pursue biology research careers. MathBench Biology Modules were created to enhance the quantitative skills of biology…

Drawing-to-learn is a specific learning/reading strategy studied across many domains. In response to gaps in our knowledge about drawing-to-learn, we conducted a systematic meta-analysis of the literature published since the influential 2005 Van Meter and Garner literature review. We analyzed the benefits of directed learner-generated visual…

In this article, we introduce a class of constructionist learning environments that we call "Emergent Systems Sandboxes" ("ESSs"), which have served as a centerpiece of our recent work in developing curriculum to support scalable model-based learning in classroom settings. ESSs are a carefully specified form of virtual…

University courses concerning Computer Vision and Image Processing are generally taught using a traditional methodology that is focused on the teacher rather than on the students. This approach is consequently not effective when teachers seek to attain cognitive objectives involving their students' critical thinking. This manuscript covers the…

Model-based reasoning has been introduced as an authentic way of learning science, and many researchers have developed technological tools for learning with models. This paper describes how a model-based tool, "BioLogica"™, was used to facilitate genetics learning in secondary 3-level biology in Singapore. The research team co-designed…