Although the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) have three dimensions, the crosscutting concepts are often the forgotten dimension. One reason teachers may not emphasize the crosscutting concepts might be because they are broad, domain-general constructs that can be difficult to conceptualize in a meaningful way. Yet, when taught…

This study discusses how textbook educational approaches concerning Le Châtelier's principle (LCP) may hinder student comprehension and prediction of chemical equilibrium disturbances. Firstly, after summarising students' LCP erroneous assertions/explanations, a categorisation of the potential barriers that may originate student misunderstandings…

The aim of the research is to create the classification for shock wave triple configurations and their existence regions of various types: type 1, type 2, type 3. Analytical solutions for limit Mach numbers and passing shock intensity that define existence region of every type of triple configuration have been acquired. The ratios that conjugate…

We used the Rule Space Model, a cognitive diagnostic model, to measure the learning progression for thermochemistry for senior high school students. We extracted five attributes and proposed their hierarchical relationships to model the construct of thermochemistry at four levels using a hypothesized learning progression. For this study, we…

The research reported here investigated the everyday and scientific repertoires of children involved in semi-structured, Piagetian interviews carried out to check their understanding of dynamic astronomical concepts like daytime and night-time. It focused on the switching taking place between embedded and disembedded thinking; on the imagery which…

In this article, Renee Clary and James Wandersee describe the beginnings of "Classification," which lies at the very heart of science and depends upon pattern recognition. Clary and Wandersee approach patterns by first telling the story of the "Linnaean classification system," introduced by Carl Linnacus (1707-1778), who is…

The study investigates the relationship between general and context-specific conceptions of the nature of science (NOS). The categorization scheme by Osborne et al. (J Res Sci Teach 40:692-720, "2003") served as the theoretical framework of the study. In the category "nature of scientific knowledge", the certainty, development, simplicity,…

Meiosis is a biological concept that is both complex and important for students to learn. This study aims to explore first-year biology students' explanations of the process of meiosis, using an explicit theoretical framework provided by the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) model. The research was based on responses of 334…

The standard formulation of energy conservation involves the subsidiary ideas of kinetic energy ("KE"), work ("W"), thermal energy, internal energy, and a half-dozen different kinds of potential energy ("PE"): elastic, chemical, nuclear, gravitational, and so forth. These quantities came to be recognized during the centuries over which the…

This article offers a plausible domain-general explanation for why some concepts of processes are resistant to instructional remediation although other, apparently similar concepts are more easily understood. The explanation assumes that processes may differ in ontological ways: that some processes (such as the apparent flow in diffusion of dye in…

The crisis in physics education necessitates searching for new relevant meanings of physics knowledge. This paper advocates regarding physics as the dialogue among discipline-cultures, rather than as a cluster of disciplines to be an appropriate subject of science education. In a discipline-culture one can distinguish elements of knowledge as…

The concept of paraphyly is defined and its importance in the teaching of evolution and taxonomy is discussed. Examples are included to illustrate this concept. A list of 14 references is provided. (CW)

This paper proposes the use of a key biological concept--broad classification--to teach the provisional and contested nature of science in school biology curricula. It also examines existing curriculum-related factors which might pose obstacles to implementing such a change. An investigation in South Africa highlights the problems regarding…

When we refer to scientific knowledge, we, implicitly or explicitly, refer to its three components, namely its conceptual framework, its methodological principles and its cultural aspects. The pendulum is a topic of science teaching and learning where all three of these aspects can be examined with the aim of gaining a holistic appreciation of the…

"Living in Water" is a classroom-based, scientific study of water, aquatic environments, and the plants and animals that live in water. The lessons in this curriculum integrate basic physical, biological, and earth sciences, and mathematics. The integration of language arts is also considered essential to its success. These lessons do not require…