This paper describes a small-scale piece of research using concept mapping to elicit A level students' understandings of particle physics. Fifty-nine year 12 (16- and 17 year-old) students from two London schools participated. The exercise took place during school physics lessons. Students were instructed how to make a concept map and were…

A major goal of schools is to provide students with knowledge and skills applicable (Csapó, 1998). However, teachers have to deal with the misconceptions of their students described as ideas based on experience leading to faulty understanding or naïve ideas (Martin et al., 2002). Schools are of primary importance in transmitting health-related…

The general public harbors misconceptions about mental illnesses; particularly, auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs). Misconceptions about the causes, dangerousness, and treatment of mental illnesses constitute barriers for treatment. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a neurobiological refutation text was more effective than a…

This study focused on the development and validation of a three-tier multiple-choice diagnostic instrument about the ecological footprint. Each question in the three-tier test comprised by; (a) the content tier, assessing content knowledge; (b) the reason tier, assessing explanatory knowledge; and (c) the confidence tier that differentiates lack…

Experts are generally in agreement that anthropogenic climate change is happening and will increase in severity, but this view is not clearly reflected in more non-specialist texts. Research has shown that school students have a limited and sometimes faulty understanding of climate change. Metaphors are used by scientists in developing thought and…

The topic of this article is how primary school students express ideas about the "origins of the nation." The study is based on texts written by Swedish students aged 12-13 about a historical event well embedded in Swedish national mythology, the rise to power of Swedish "founding father" Gustav Vasa. The analysis is inspired…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the cognitive structures of chemistry teacher candidates about "stereochemistry." A case study research method, one of the qualitative research patterns, was used in the study and the sample of study involved 28 prospective chemistry teachers who had taken Organic Chemistry I and II courses at…

Evidence-based knowledge about intellectual giftedness is important for identifying, counseling, and fostering intellectually gifted students. How much teachers actually know about intellectual giftedness is unclear because previous studies have relied solely on self-reports. This study aimed to: (a) develop a test for the assessment of teachers'…

More individuals are affected by dyslexia than any other learning disability. The success of students with dyslexia receiving early identification and evidence-based interventions is dependent upon the knowledge and skills of the school practitioners responsible for their academic programs. This study investigated knowledge of dyslexia and…

The present research explores benefits of using young students' drawings in combination with written responses for gathering information about science concepts. Younger students are still very limited in their verbal expression and less biologically literate than older students. The aim was to determine primary school students' conceptions about…

Even graduate physics students have many misconceptions about basic wave optics phenomena. This suggests that there is much room for improvement of the traditional wave optics curriculum. An effective way for initiating a curriculum change is to reconsider and revise the expected learning outcomes and corresponding assessment instruments. By…

The aim of this study is to identify and provide a clear idea about the helpful ways in determining the truth (or reliability) of arguments in the situations where it is necessary to make a decision. In this paper, we use systemic, structural-functional, activity approaches, methods of analysis, synthesis, moreover we discuss the works of…

This paper presents a case for the use of transaction-level data when analyzing automated online assessment results to identify knowledge gaps and misconceptions for individual students. Transaction-level data, which records all of the steps a student uses to complete an assessment item, are preferred over traditional assessment formats that…

Many undergraduates in privileged positions mistakenly feel that we live in a post-racial society (e.g. Goodman, 1995; Osborne, Kriese, & Davis, 2013). Their prior knowledge about diversity can be limited and they can be unaware of what they do not know about cultural competence and intercultural sensitivity (e.g., Osborne et al., 2013;…

Despite the prevalence of concussions in a college student population, there are often little to no recommendations for returning to school. Academic accommodations would likely be necessary in order to follow the guidelines for cognitive rest, an increasingly common recommendation during recovery. However, obtaining these accommodations may be…