This study explores the ontological perspective in analyzing students' problem-solving related to mechanical energy conservation. The research involves 18 high school students whose explanations were qualitatively analyzed using an extended ontological framework. Initially, students predominantly employed matter-based predicates and…

This paper examines Grade 10 students' conceptions of proof in a secondary school in Singapore. Using a purposive survey of 9 mathematical items, proofs by 8 students for two items, one on Number and Algebra and another on Geometry and Trigonometry, were coded using Harel's proof schemes. The findings show that the students' proofs for the two…

This study aims to develop and validate a Constructivist Learning Environment Model to address secondary students' misconceptions in learning Science. Employing a Design and Development approach (Richey & Klein, 2007), the research is conducted in two phases. Phase 1 focuses on model design, drawing from an extensive literature review to…

Knowledge about genetics is essential to build a society capable of participating in socioscientific and ethical debates. However, this subject remains difficult for students, making it necessary to develop new educational strategies, such as gamification. Thus, two main objectives are established in this work: (a) to design and evaluate…

This research investigated the effect of project-based learning (PjBL) on students' conceptual understanding of mechanics. For this purpose, a quasi-experimental research design was conducted with 50 ninth-grade students at Nazarbayev Intellectual School in Kazakhstan. We used the force concept inventory test to measure students' conceptual…

Clearly defining and clarifying crosscutting concepts (CCCs) helps students to apply them as thinking tools or lenses to understand disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices. This study identified three characteristics of the sub-concepts of CCCs: conceptual, superordinate, and common across disciplines, and explored a way…

The purpose of this case study, informed by a Lakatosian perspective, is to identify how an alternative conception that originates in present learning but is related directly to subsequent learning contexts can be constructed. Before the study, one of the authors found by accident that a student who had learned about Avogadro's principle and…

Sixty (35 girls and 25 boys) 9th-grade students' conceptual understanding of the number line was qualitatively assessed through verbal explanations and visual representations. The assessment included an open-ended question focused on students' number line descriptions and the explanations coalesced around six features: sequential ordering (i.e.,…

In science education, students need to work with laboratory elements that create conditions for them to learn to do science and experience the value of making meaning in this process. However, students rarely get to carry out investigations that resemble actual scientific practices. More often, they are encouraged to follow an already given…

Chemistry is a difficult subject for many students. The content is challenging, and students often enter chemistry classes with preconceived ideas about chemical phenomena which may or may not align with scientific ideas (Gabel, 1999; Johnstone, 1991, 1993; Nakhleh, 1992). The purpose of this study was to understand high school students'…

As students read scientific texts created in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools, they need to draw on their epistemic knowledge of GenAI as well as that of science. However, only a few research discussed multimodality as a methodological approach in characterising students' ideas of GenAI-science epistemic reading. This study…

A central objective of science education is to foster a profound comprehension of fundamental scientific principles among students. Research has shown that a highly integrated knowledge structure is a key factor in achieving a deep understanding. This research has developed a friction force conceptual framework to model students' different…

Researchers have identified many ways that students think about rectangular area. However, research about students' understanding of triangle area is relatively scarce. Although it may seem simple to apply the triangle area formula, there is more to students' understanding of triangle area. In this dissertation, I obtained data to help answer the…

Explaining is a vital spontaneous process for human beings, as through explanations we make sense of the surrounding phenomena. While the role and structure of explanations have been explored in each science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) area, little is still known regarding what counts as a good explanation for a STEM problem.…

Making sense of algebraic expressions in context is multifaceted and extends beyond representing real-world situations using algebra. As part of Project MathTalk, the authors created videos that feature a pair of Grade 9 algebra 1 students coming to understand algebraic expressions in context. The students found three aspects of making sense of…