This study addresses the measurement of high school students' epistemic knowledge associated with scientific experimentation (EKSE) which concerns "how" scientific experimentation generates knowledge and "why" that knowledge is justified. Based on philosophical, educational standards, and literature analyses, an EKSE construct…

Our motivation for this article is for students to realize that opportunities for discovery are all around them. Discoveries that can still puzzle present day researchers. Here we explore an observation by a middle school student concerning the production of what appears to be water-like "ripples" produced in aluminum foil when placed…

Increasingly, research on cognition, learning, and education seeks to understand the cognitive processes underlying conceptual understanding. This is especially true for efforts to understand how students learn science. The present case summarizes work that examines 6- to 10-year-old students engage in scientific reasoning to learn new scientific…

A dynamic assessment tool was developed and validated using Mokken scale analysis to assess the extent to which kindergartners are able to construct unconfounded experiments, an essential part of scientific reasoning. Scientific reasoning is one of the learning processes happening within science education. A commonly used, hands-on,…

Background: The use of visual representations (i.e., photographs, diagrams, models) has been part of science, and their use makes it possible for scientists to interact with and represent complex phenomena, not observable in other ways. Despite a wealth of research in science education on visual representations, the emphasis of such research has…

A number of thought experiments are cited, some well-known, some not. These illustrate the power of thought experiments. Other examples are given that show some of the dangers. As well as examples from the science, some examples of visual reasoning from mathematics are also presented, again with an eye to illustrating their promise and perils.…

Using science experiments in life science, chemistry, and physics, helps ground students' understanding of abstract algebra concepts in real-world applications. Hands-on activities connect mathematics with science in a way that is accessible to teachers and students alike. Each activity explores a scientific phenomenon, connecting it to algebra…

Undergraduate biology programs are currently undergoing reform to involve students in biomedical research. Engaging students in more active, hands-on experiments allows students to discover scientific principles for themselves, and to develop techniques of critical thinking and problem solving. This models the world of real scientific research,…

This document discusses the relation between adolescents' expertise (their informational background, which can be accurate or inaccurate, about a particular task or subject) and their formal operational reasoning, and reports the results of three studies of the effects of children's expertise on reasoning. In Study I, adolescents from a rural…

This manual was developed to provide guidance to individuals working in Project SOAR (Stress on Analytical Reasoning), a pre-freshman summer program for science majors anticipating matriculation at Xavier University of Louisiana. Following an overview of Xavier University and Project SOAR and an outline of general instructions, specific…

Higher order cognitive development and success in the study of high school mathematics and science require an understanding of rational number concepts and facility with proportional reasoning and computation. Proportional reasoning is an essential schema for developing formal operational thought. This study involving 16 ninth-grade students was…

Presents three typical lab activities involving the breathing rate of fish, the behavior of electromagnets, and tests for water hardness to demonstrate how labs can be modified to teach process skills. Discusses how basic concepts about experimentation are developed and ways of generating and improving science experiments. Includes a laboratory…