Many students in secondary grade levels struggle with proportional reasoning. Calisici (2018) found that 48 percent of students were unable to solve a multiplication problem involving fractions. Furthermore, many students struggle with complex Chemistry topics due to the difficulty many students have visualizing the microscopic scale. "3D…

One of the goals of science education is to help students make sense of the world around them. To that end, it is critical that students understand the central ideas in each discipline like, in chemistry, energy and interactions. These ideas are of particular importance because they are directly related to one another and are relevant across other…

Despite the number of university students who take courses in multiple science disciplines, little is known about how they perceive common concepts from different disciplinary perspectives and to what extent they recognize connections among their courses. This dissertation explores students' perceptions of their chemistry and biology courses…

Recently, developments in novel and high-purity materials allow for the presence of a single, solitary crystalline defect to define the electronic, magnetic, and optical functionality of a device. The discrete nature of the active dopant, whose properties are defined by a quantum mechanical description of its structure, enables radically new…

The synthesis and assembly of nanostructures has been extensively researched because of the potential for developing new device arrays and the myriad applications they might entail. Fundamental physical laws, however, dictate the combinations of materials/substrates that provide the requisite conditions, especially in physical vapor deposition. To…

Entrepreneurs seeking to commercialize science-based technologies face considerable challenges including uncertain environments, policy makers and investors' ignorance, and public opposition and ethical concerns. Most research exploring the emergence of technologies assumes the existence of accepted uses or products, despite the fact that efforts…

This study examines the development of nanoscience/nanotechnology over a 35 year period (1970-2004) by mapping its social and cognitive structures using social network analysis, bibliometrics and document analysis, and following their changes in time. Mapping is performed based on 580,000 journal articles, 240,000 patents and 53,000 research…