The current study aims to contribute to the literature on how organic chemistry students weigh various factors when predicting products of substitution and elimination reactions. This study focuses specifically on these mechanism types, as they are often the first instances where students must consider the "how" and the "why"…

pH buffers are used extensively in research and industry making them an important chemistry topic for students to learn. This qualitative study uses the phenomenographic method and a resource theoretical framework to provide the first insights into how students approach conceptual buffer problems. Three scaffolded buffer question sets were…

A method is adapted for calculating two measures of entropy for gaze transitions to summarize and statistically compare eye-tracking data. A review of related eye-tracking studies sets the context for this approach. We argue that entropy analysis captures rich data that allows for robust statistical comparisons and can be used for more subtle…

We present a showcase of our experience with videos complementing analytical chemistry lectures to familiarize undergraduate students with instrumental element analysis. This includes a detailed account of how we planned, produced, and utilized a video to review the course content at the end of the semester. The analytical case study focused on…

Previous research on problem diagrams suggested that including a supportive diagram, one that does not provide necessary problem solving information, may bring little, or even negative, benefit to students' problem solving success. We tested the usefulness of problem diagrams on 12 different physics problems (6A/B experiments) in our massive open…

This special issue of "Journal of Research in Science Teaching" reflects conclusions and recommendations in the "Discipline-Based Education Research" (DBER) report and makes a substantial contribution to advancing the field. Research on undergraduate science learning is currently a loose affiliation of related fields. The…

Problem solving is a critical skill for engineering students and essential to development of creativity and innovativeness. Essential to such learning is an ease of communication and allowing students to address the issues at hand via the terminology, attitudes, humor and empathy, which is inherent to their frame of mind as novices, without the…

Professionally developed and freely accessible through the Internet, scientific data maps have great potential for teaching and learning with data in the science classroom. Solving problems or developing ideas while using data maps of Earth phenomena in the science classroom may help students to understand the nature and process of science. Little…

The current generation of students coming into food science and engineering programs is very visually oriented from their early experiences. To increase their interest in learning, new and visually appealing teaching materials need to be developed. Two diverse groups of students may be identified based on their math skills. Food science students…

This paper introduces various visual models for the analysis and description of learning processes. The models analyse learning on two levels: the dynamic level (as a process over time) and the functional level. Two types of model for dynamic modelling are proposed: the session trace, which documents a specific learner in a particular learning…

Investigates how students interpret and analyze multivariate data organized in tables and the nature of external visual displays that they tend to create and use for this purpose. Reports that: (1) students based their conclusions on only part of the data; (2) students did not use either efficient or sufficient visual representations; and (3)…

This case study describes a teacher's development of and creativity in manipulating physical models in an astronomy course for in-service science teachers of K-8. Specifically, she organized a data table from several charts of numbers, constructed a moon-ball model in addition to a 2-D model, and created a hula hoop model as a concrete realization…

Two computer-generated star charts that can be used as overlay transparencies to show an expanding universe are presented. Directions on how to use the star charts to determine the Hubble constant and the age of the universe are provided. (KR)

This article is a reproducible page for students in grades four through six. The stated objective is the student will organize information about unfamiliar animals and infer other information. Students read clues about five newly discovered species and use a chart to organize this information in a more meaningful way. (PR)

Describes an active learning approach used in an introductory biology class and evaluates the project with student surveys. Presents students' answers to survey questions. (Contains 16 references.) (YDS)