In upper-secondary chemistry education, the concept of 'Amount of Substance' occupies a central position within the computation framework. However, comprehending this concept often poses a challenge for students. To address this issue, our study aimed to design and implement a computation skills test to assess the varying levels of students'…

Instructional strategies employing complex problem-solving examine how learners represent the problem space and argue for decisions. Unlike problems with few solutions (e.g., multiple choices), instructors struggle to evaluate solutions to ill-structured problems quickly and consistently across students. This prevents instructors to provide timely…

This study aims to describe components and levels of upper secondary social science students' reasoning about social problems. We consulted conceptualizations of social scientific reasoning in sociology textbooks and social science education literature, analyzed student papers, and conducted focus groups with social science teachers and teacher…

This dissertation comprises two articles. In the first article, I review and synthesize literature on how prospective teachers (PTs) might evaluate students' mathematical thinking as manifested in written work. After defining evaluation, I argue that evaluating students' thinking in productive ways is both necessary and desirable within the…

In the contemporary world of digitalisation, comprehensive digital competence (DC) is and should be an integral part of students' repertoire to guarantee not only academic but also professional success. However, the level and requirements for DC may vary within specific educational contexts, especially in culturally oriented institutions. This…

The importance of mathematical problem solving (MPS) has been widely recognized. While there has been significant progress in developing and studying interventions to support teaching and learning MPS for students with disabilities, the research on how to accurately and effectively assess the impact of those interventions has lagged, leaving a gap…

Laboratory learning has been the focus of significant creativity for educators. Engaging students in "real world" contexts or using their knowledge in laboratory exercises in a meaningful way requires that students are engaged in the practice of science. The role of decision-making around this practice of science, say for the analysis of…

Contribution: This research illuminates information entropy's efficacy as a pivotal educational tool in programming, enabling the precise quantification of algorithmic complexity and student abstraction levels for solving problems. This approach can provide students quantitative, comparative insights into the differences between optimal and…

This article explores: (1) the barriers facing students and teachers regarding this type of assessment, and (2) a proposed framework for overcoming these barriers. In this study, the barriers and corresponding assessment techniques were determined by interviewing a sample of 17 students and five teachers. The main barrier reported by the students…

Determining the most appropriate method of scoring an assessment is based on multiple factors, including the intended use of results, the assessment's purpose, and time constraints. Both the dichotomous and partial credit models have their advantages, yet direct comparisons of assessment outcomes from each method are not typical with constructed…

In the context of scholarly and scientific discourse, students often have to deal with graphic-visual modes of communication, which requires their ability to comprehend and utilize inscriptions, that is, scientific visual representations, to convey information effectively--what we call graphical literacy. Despite its pivotal role for training…

This study examines the feasibility and potential advantages of using large language models, in particular GPT-4o, to perform partial credit grading of large numbers of student written responses to introductory level physics problems. Students were instructed to write down verbal explanations of their reasoning process when solving one conceptual…

Mathematics teacher candidates enter teacher education with knowledge that could support or limit their learning. It is therefore important to gain insights of this knowledge to inform teacher education. This paper offers such insights for prospective mathematics teachers' initial knowledge of problem solving (PS) for teaching at the beginning of…

Econometrics has become increasingly important in Economics and Business degrees, since it appears to be narrowly related to several main skills and competencies as information management, creativity, problem-solving or decision-making. Furthermore, the development of information technologies, including econometric software, makes it possible to…

Arithmetic fluency is regarded as a foundational math skill, typically measured as a single construct with pencil-and-paper-based timed assessments. We introduce a tablet-based assessment of single-digit fluency that captures individual trial response times across several embedded experimental contrasts of interest. A large (n = 824) cohort of…