Limited research has explored the use of visual displays (ViDis) in science tests, making it challenging to know how these tests align with classroom instruction and what skills students need to be successful on these tests. Therefore, the current study aims to describe the use of ViDis in upper elementary grade standardized science tests. We…

Vibrational fine structure observed in the published He-I UV photoelectron spectra of H[subscript 2] and N[subscript 2] molecules recorded at room temperature and under microwave excitation or at 700 °C have been reexamined and compared with calculations of the Franck-Condon factors (FCFs) using simple harmonic oscillator wave functions and/or…

As a widely applied theory that has found success across many fields, density functional theory (DFT) is largely taught. Typically, the most effective way to convey DFT concepts is through illustrative examples that are currently lacking in available resources. In this work, we demonstrate total energy calculations for H[subscript 2] using…

A Spreadsheet Excel application for chromatographic peak characterization is described in this article. Data are exported from HPLC specific program to an Excel file with macros to perform basic calculations as retention time, height, and area of the peaks. From these values, peak resolution, asymmetry, or theoretical plates are calculated and…

The development of metaknowledge about models (MKM) and metaknowledge about the modelling process (MKP) are important in pre-service science teachers (PSTs) education. MKM refers to knowledge about the model's entities and its purposes, while MKP refers to knowledge about the components and structure of the modelling process. Assessing MKM and MKP…

Auxiliary Tanabe-Sugano diagrams are presented. They enable a rapid and reliable graphical derivation of Dq/B and C/B crystal field parameter ratios from spectroscopic data. Using these values, one can calculate Dq and B by employing the original Tanabe-Sugano diagrams. Subsequently, C can also be calculated irrespective of the value C/B fixed in…

The proliferation of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) means we are witnessing transformative change in education. While GenAI offers exciting possibilities for personalised learning and innovative teaching methodologies, its potential for reinforcing biases and perpetuating stereotypes poses ethical and pedagogical concerns. This article…

In this study, we focus on a specific visual representation that is used across several mathematics and science content areas: the 'partitioned square' (PS). Previous research has examined PSs in single content areas in isolation, such as for mathematics polynomials or biology random mating, where the PS was generally in the service of other…

Recent advancements in generative artificial intelligence for visualization offer significant opportunities to develop instructional materials. These opportunities can benefit astronomy education, which frequently relies on visual aids like representations. This document analysis study investigates ChatGPT-4o's capabilities for creating and…

The aim of this study is to investigate students' meaning-making of multiple visual representations of epigenetics at different levels of biological organisation, and to discern what visual aspects of the multiple visual representations might influence students' reasoning. Adopting an exploratory approach, we analysed how students made meaning of…

The following activity was developed to allow students to actively participate in and measure the kinetics of a multistep process. Each group of students is given a stack of blank coloring pages, each with a rainbow design printed on it. Each student in a group is given a different color crayon and colors in their portion of the picture before…

Winogradsky columns were invented by Sergei Winogradsky in the 1880s and have commonly been used as a microbiology classroom learning tool in K-12 and collegiate education. However, they can be challenging to examine with microscopy. We scaled down Winogradsky columns into nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tubes and replaced the natural sediment…

Many publications describe use of ultrasound imaging in teaching of clinical courses, primarily integrated with clinical applications. More recently there have been increasing numbers of papers describing ultrasound as a tool primarily for teaching basic anatomy and physiology concepts rather than clinical applications. Of these, many have…

Students' understanding of nature of science (NOS) has been largely examined primarily in written or verbal modes. The visual, verbal, and written modes are essential for students' meaning-making of NOS. However, research has sidelined the interaction among these three modes in understanding students' collaborative discourse of NOS. Informed by…

Drawing is a powerful process tool that supports learning in life science classrooms. Effective drawing activities frame drawing as a learning process and explicitly incorporate observation and communication. The goals of this article are to situate drawing as a valuable learning experience and to guide educators through designing and implementing…