Originally intended as a replication study, this study discusses differences in problem solving performance among different domains caused by the same instructional intervention. The learning sciences acknowledges similarities in the learners' cognitive architecture that allow interventions to apply across domains, but it also argues that each…

This research investigates various purposes of teacher discourse moves essential to orchestrate dialogic discourse in secondary science classrooms. Data collected includes classroom observations and teacher interviews of two teachers teaching in an Indian school setting, whose classroom practices subscribed to a dialogic framework. A discursive…

This research was informed by a constructivist approach to learning, with a focus on answering the research question: what skills can science teachers promote and encourage among students through designing and implementing problem-based learning in their classrooms? The research was carried out in a co-education secondary school in England and…

We explored how preservice teachers in a middle school science methods course learned and applied computational thinking (CT) concepts and activities during a month-long intervention. In the intervention, preservice teachers learned about CT concepts through an hour-long lecture in their methods class, practiced a computing-integration activity…

Evidence from a range of fields shows that representation-connection (RC) is the key step towards the solution of a real-world insight problem. However, no study has focused on the inter-individual variability in RC, and little is known about whether structural and resting-state functional signals can account for inter-individual differences in…

The purpose of this parallel convergent mixed methods study was to characterize organic chemistry students' expression of electron-pushing formalism skills who had participated in peer-led team learning (PLTL) and cyber peer-led team learning (cPLTL), a synchronous online version of peer-led team learning (PLTL) workshops. A new electron-pushing…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") emphasize integrating engineering design into the science classroom (NGSS Lead States 2013). Inventing is an authentic and relevant classroom approach, regardless of content area, located at one end of a design continuum opposite from routine problem solving. Invention, at the…

The development of expertise in chemical information literacy requires practicing these skills in the context of chemistry work. The integration of information literacy in problem-based learning is an instructional strategy that can be used to situate skill development in the chemistry classroom. This work describes a mixed-methods approach to…

One way that STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) initiatives are being utilized is to encourage schools and teachers to integrate key science-based concepts into daily instruction. The reason is simple: it is more than just an instructional improvement or curricular enhancement; it is a research-based strategy that addresses the…

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an urgent need for engaging computational alternatives to traditional laboratory exercises. Here we introduce a customizable and flexible workflow, designed with the SARS CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 in mind, as a means of reinforcing fundamental biology concepts using bioinformatics approaches. This workflow…

Teaching a hands- and minds-on course, in which feedback is essential in order to learn, is difficult, especially in times of COVID-19 where student progression cannot be monitored directly. During the lockdown period, the workshops of an undergraduate Design Engineering course had to be transferred to the home situation, which required a redesign…

Synergistic learning combining computational thinking (CT) and STEM has proven to be an effective method for advancing learning and understanding in a number of STEM domains and simultaneously helping students develop important CT concepts and practices. We adopt a design-based approach to develop, evaluate, and refine our Collaborative,…

Flotation is usually taught in Indian schools after students have been introduced to the concepts of mass, density, pressure, volume and buoyancy. This paper describes an attempt to teach the principle of flotation to a class of sixth graders--who had not yet been taught these concepts--so they could understand (and perhaps, arrive at) Archimedes'…

The application of factor analysis to the "Force Concept Inventory" (FCI) has proven to be problematic. Some studies have suggested that factor analysis of test results serves as a helpful tool in assessing the recognition of Newtonian concepts by students. Other work has produced at best ambiguous results. For the FCI administered as a…

Since 1996, the Geology (GLY) program at the USF has offered "Computational Geology" as part of its commitment to prepare undergraduate majors for the quantitative aspects of their field. The course focuses on geological-mathematical problem solving. Over its twenty years, the course has evolved from a GATC…