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'…

One of the goals of secondary science education is to help students develop skills related to scientific inquiry. However, the results of previous studies have shown that students have difficulties in identifying problems, formulating hypotheses, drawing conclusions, and designing experiments. The main objective of this contribution is to indicate…

Structured abstract: Introduction: Difficulties in science and mathematics may stem from intuitive interference of irrelevant salient variables in a task. It has been suggested that such intuitive interference is based on immediate perceptual differences that are often visual. Studies performed with sighted participants have indicated that in the…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is widely endorsed as a desirable learning method, particularly in science. Especially in light of the method's heavy demand on resources, evidence-based practice is called for. Rigorous studies of the method's effectiveness, however, are scarce. In Study 1, college students enrolled in an elementary physics course…

Errors students typically generate while trying to translate problems into and out of algebraic notation are reviewed. Translation skills and pupil difficulties with them are seen as areas deserving further research. (MP)

Explores teaching methods to improve students' understanding of quantitative chemistry and their ability to solve related problems using the Multidimensional Analysis System (MAS). Investigates the relationships between MAS-classified chemistry problems and student achievement in solving these problems. Shows that improvement in student…

French tenth grade physics classes were observed as they studied electric circuits over a one-year period. An analysis is presented of tests taken during the year. The main point separating "average" students from "good" ones is their performances in "implicitly difficult exercises," that is, in what appears…

Scientific and everyday knowledge domains are compared so as to reveal the distinctive differences between their goals and the cognitive processes used to attain them. The main goals, working goals, learning difficulties, knowledge structure, concept specification, knowledge organization, role of school science, program-solving instruction, formal…