Meaningful learning for conceptual change in science education should aim to help students change their existing misconceptions to develop an accurate understanding of scientific concepts. Although collaborative argumentation is assumed to support such processes, its value for conceptual change is unclear. Moreover, the roles of argumentative…

Data comparison problems are used in teaching and science education research that focuses on students' ability to compare datasets and their conceptual understanding of measurement uncertainties. However, the evaluation of students' decisions in these problems can pose a problem: e.g., students making a correct decision for the wrong reasons.…

Digital instructional tools, such as virtual manipulatives, have been widely adopted as an enhanced approach to inquiry-based learning. However, the optimal ratio of mobile devices to students in instructional settings remain controversial. This research introduced a counterbalanced quasi-experiment to compare the learning performance and…

The purpose of this study was to find out the influence of the integration sequence of interactive simulation on the construction of the scientific explanation of buffer solutions. This study was conducted with 30 pre-service science teachers. The control group was randomly assigned to study with lecture first and then interactive simulation-based…

Interpreting and creating computational systems models is an important goal of science education. One aspect of computational systems modeling that is supported by modeling, systems thinking, and computational thinking literature is "testing, evaluating, and debugging models." Through testing and debugging, students can identify aspects…

Multilingual learners (MLs) often struggle with science conceptual learning partly due to the abstractness of the concepts and the complexity of scientific texts. This study presents a case of a Virtual Reality (VR) enhanced science learning unit to support middle-school students' science conceptual learning. Using a transformative mixed methods…

The rapid development of large language models (LLMs) presented opportunities for the transformation of science and STEM education. Research on LLMs was in the exploratory phase, characterized by discussions and observations rather than empirical investigations. This study presented a framework for incorporating LLMs into Science and Engineering…

The nature of the learning that occurs with real versus replicated objects and environments is an important topic for museums and science centers. Our comparative, exploratory study addressed this area through an investigation of family visits to two different settings: an operating permafrost research tunnel, and a replica of this permafrost…

The students' explaining skill is interrelated with their conceptual understanding. This study aimed to determine the effect of the implementation of the student facilitator and explaining model assisted by the media game on the students' explaining skills related to environmental pollution. This quasi-experimental research was using a pre-test…

This study aims to determine the changes in the cognitive structures of the 35 participants after ecology-based nature education in Bursa Uludag and its vicinity. This study used a single group pretest-posttest experimental mode where the data was collected by a word association test. It included the key concepts of nature, national parks,…

Background: Engaging students in computer-assisted guided inquiry learning has great potential to scaffold their scientific understanding: Students are expected to improve their scientific problem-solving skills, and at the same time gain a deep conceptual understanding of the subject-matter. Additional generative activities such as creating video…

Global carbon cycling describes the movement of carbon through atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere; it lies at the heart of climate change and sustainability. To understand the global carbon cycle, students will require "interdisciplinary knowledge." While standards documents in science education have long promoted…

While there have been concerted efforts to reform undergraduate biology toward teaching students to organize their conceptual knowledge like experts, there are few tools that attempt to measure this. We previously developed the Biology Card Sorting Task (BCST), designed to probe how individuals organize their conceptual biological knowledge.…

International research into the nature, emergence, and development of geographical misconceptions is substantial. However, Hungarian educational research lags behind in exploring this phenomenon in detail. The present study identified some plate-tectonics-related misconceptions of three distinctive groups of students: ninth-grade secondary school…

In this study, we explore how cross-linguistic differences can contribute to children's scientific thinking. We compared first and third grade Chinese students' pre-instructional ideas of the earth expressed in clinical interviews with that of their English-speaking and Greek-speaking counterparts (as recorded in the literature). Inspired by a…