The rapid evolution of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is transforming science education by facilitating innovative pedagogical paradigms while raising substantial concerns about scholarly integrity. One particularly pressing issue is the growing risk of student use of GenAI tools to outsource assessment tasks, potentially compromising…

This study tests a hypothesized learning progression for the concept of energy. It looks at 14 specific ideas under the categories of (i) Energy Forms and Transformations; (ii) Energy Transfer; (iii) Energy Dissipation and Degradation; and (iv) Energy Conservation. It then examines students' growth of understanding within each of these ideas at…

Over the past several decades, there has been a tremendous growth in our understanding of genetic phenomena and the intricate and complicated mechanisms that mediate genetic effects. Given the complexity of content in modern genetics and the inadequacy of current instructional methods and materials it seems that a more coherent and extensive…

Examines how the theory of evolution was received by the scientific community at the time of its inception to provide insight into some of the difficulties that students have in learning some important biological concepts. Contains 82 references. (DDR)

Reviews the history of the epistemological and ontological underpinnings of science education and surveys other selected articles with this theme. (DDR)

Explores the effects of students' inquiry during a technology-supported unit of evolution and natural selection on their beliefs about the nature of science. Shows that the inconsistency of individual responses undermines the assumption that students have stable, coherent epistemological frameworks. Indicates differences between student talk…

Places analogy and metaphor within the wider context of all figurative language, and traces the relationship between that kind of expression and the supposedly literal and direct accounts of nature that scientists have built up. (PR)

Examines the validity of claims that concept maps measure an important aspect of students' knowledge structures. Provides a working definition of concept mapping and a brief theoretical background, characterizes concept maps as a potential assessment in science, reviews empirical evidence on the reliability and validity of various concept mapping…

Outlines a theoretical framework for viewing students' conceptions and the effect of analogies on students' conceptions. (PR)

Investigates the way in which students apply the ecological concept of interdependence of species to the issue of preservation of species. Interviews with 12-year-old children (N=63) and 16-year-old children (N=60) provide the data for this study. Contains 27 references. (DDR)

Identifies four different types of science stories: (1) heroic; (2) discovery; (3) declarative; and (4) politically correct. Examines the philosophical assumptions that underpin heroic science stories. Considers the implications of these stories in the science classroom. Contains 33 references. (DDR)

Reports on the application of Gowin's epistemology to examples from geological inquiry which yield criteria of excellence responsive to the demands characteristic of geological problems. Supporting this approach is a case study about how geologists apply analogies. Contains 33 references. (DDR)

Discusses how scientific knowledge emerges from social, natural, political, cultural, historical, and economic contingencies of scientific work. Illustrates the advantages of familiarity with research in science and technology. Contains 96 references. (DDR)

Reviews research on children's ideas about floating and sinking. Describes the Model-Assisted Reasoning in Science (MARS) project curriculum and student responses to a question about helium balloons. Contains 61 references. (DDR)

Compares the worldview of Native American students of the traditional Kickapoo Band with the worldview encountered in the science classroom. Investigates by conducting periodic observation in two classrooms over an 18-month period of time. Contains 41 references. (DDR)