The ability to solve authentic real-world problems in science, engineering, and medicine is an important goal in post-secondary education. Despite extensive research on problem solving and expertise, the teaching and assessing of advanced problem-solving skills in post-secondary students remains a challenge. We present a template for creating…

Integrating computational thinking (CT) and science education is complex, and assessing the resulting learning gains even more so. Arguments that assessment should match the learning (Biggs, "Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education," 21(1), 5-16. 1996; Airasian and Miranda, "Theory into Practice," 41(4), 249-254. 2002;…

Problem solving plays an essential role in all scientific disciplines, and solving problems can reveal essential concepts that underlie those disciplines. Thus, problem solving serves both as a common tool and desired outcome in many science classes. Research on teaching problem solving offers principles for instruction that are guided by learning…

Science learning in the 21st century should develop the abilities of the students to find solutions to the problems. This task requires a set of skills called Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) and innovative assessment should be designed to gauge the acquisition of these skills. Thus, this study aimed to create an innovative HOTS-based…

This paper marks the second in a series of five reports detailing the work of the Optimizing Assessment for All (OAA) project at Brookings to strengthen education systems capacity to integrate 21st century skills into teaching and learning, using assessment as a lever for changing classroom practices. Twenty-first century skills (21CS) are now…

This research investigated the potential for curricula at the intersection of the arts and the sciences to develop creative productivity of students. The purpose of this research was to develop a series of rubric assessments to evaluate the content and creative and higher order thinking on a variety of teacher-made lesson plans and student-made…

Background: In science education today, there is an emerging focus on what is happening in situ, making use of an array of analytical traditions. Common practice is to use one specific analytical framing within a research project, but there are projects that make use of multiple analytical framings to further the understanding of the same data,…

"Proceedings of International Conference on Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology" includes full papers presented at the International Conference on Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology (ICEMST) which took place on March 24-27, 2022 in Antalya, Turkey. The aim of the conference is to offer opportunities to share…

This study looks into the reading practice in a Grade 4 knowledge building community that involved 22 students and a veteran teacher. The students investigated light over a three-month period supported by Knowledge Forum, a networked collaborative knowledge-building environment. The classroom designs encouraged the students to take on high-level…

Understanding key foundational principles is vital to learning chemistry across different contexts. One such foundational principle is the acid/base behavior of molecules. In the general chemistry sequence, the Bronsted-Lowry theory is stressed, because it lends itself well to studying equilibrium and kinetics. However, the Lewis theory of…

This study examines the effects of the activity of building systems models for school-based problems on problem solving and on conceptual change in elementary science classes. During a unit on the water cycle in an Asian elementary school, students constructed systems models of the water cycle. We found that representing ill-structured problems as…

Simulation environments make it possible for science and engineering students to learn to interact with complex systems. Putting these capabilities to effective use for learning, and assessing learning, requires more than a simulation environment alone. It requires a conceptual framework for the knowledge, skills, and ways of thinking that are…

High school physics curricula are designed to meet a number of goals, all of which compete for classroom and homework time. The process-oriented goals include the development of skills in problem solving, measurement, analyzing data, and research, particularly in this world of internet based, unfiltered information. Content goals, on the other…

We report the preliminary results of work with a unique, web-site-based approach designed to help individual bioscientists identify and develop their individual creative capacity. The site includes a number of features that encourage individuals to interact with creativity techniques, communicate with colleagues remotely using an electronic notice…

The purpose of this mixed method study was to discover whether training in understanding relationships between variables would help students read and interpret equations for the purposes of problem solving in physics. Twenty students from two physics classes at a private Catholic high school participated in a one group pretest-posttest unit with…