Project-based learning (PBL) is an instructional approach to science teaching that supports the "Next Generation Science Standards" (Krajcik 2015; NGSS Lead States 2013). In a PBL lesson, students design and solve real-world problems or explain scientific phenomena. Students using a PBL model learn and retain more than those not using…

This research project investigates students' development of problem solving schemata while using strategies that facilitate the process of using solved examples to assist with a new problem (case reuse). Focus group learning interviews were used to explore students' perceptions and understanding of several problem solving strategies. Individual…

Within the field of education, there has been an increasing recognition of the importance of formative assessment and of structural knowledge. In an effort to fill needs in each of these areas, this article describes an innovative feedback strategy intended to improve students' structural knowledge. Twenty-four high school physics students were…

We investigated whether and how prior knowledge activation improves learning outcomes for high school (less experienced learners) and university students (experienced learners) in a hypertext environment. Map coherence was defined as the extent to which relationships between the concepts in the map were made explicit. Therefore, we classified the…

Forty-six students enrolled in a high school physics course participated in a study designed to portray student views on, and understanding of, collaborative concept mapping. Students demonstrated a good understanding of concept maps and emphasized their usefulness as a learning tool. (56 references) (ZWH)

Reports on part of a larger study of how 11- and 12-year-old students construct knowledge of electricity and magnetism by drawing on aspects of their experiences during the course of a school visit to an interactive science museum and subsequent classroom activities linked to the science museum exhibits. (Contains 24 references.) (Author/YDS)

Informs teachers about using concept maps as a learning tool and alternative assessment tools in education. Presents research results of how students might use concept maps to communicate their cognitive structure. (Author/KHR)

Studies of the relationship between students' propositional knowledge (as measured by concept mapping tasks) and their study strategies (as measured by self-report questionnaires) for electricity in first-year university courses are described. The effect of propositional knowledge and prior knowledge on both conceptual knowledge and study…

This paper proposes a methodology to calculate both the difficulty of the basic problems and the difficulty of solving a problem. The method to calculate the difficulty of problem is according to the process of constructing a problem, including Concept Selection, Unknown Designation, and Proposition Construction. Some necessary measures observed…