Even though physical experiments are mandatory in science education, there has been an increasing demand for virtual experiments. This research aimed to investigate the impact of virtual experiments compared to physical experiments on students' conceptual understanding of chemical kinetics concepts. To achieve this, a two-phase explanatory…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge-based instruction on grade 11 students' achievement in chemical kinetics and equilibrium. A quasi-experimental research design with a 4 × 2 * 3 pre-test and post-test control group was employed on Grade 11 chemistry students in Addis Ababa…

The goal of this study was to assess students' level of conceptual understanding of chemical kinetics and equilibrium using topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge (TSPCK)-based instruction in chemistry grade 11 students. The research was a mixed approach that involved 159 grade 11 chemistry class students from Addis Ababa administrative…

This study examined the effects of using the Feedback Loop Model (FLM) in Grade 12 Senior High School (SHS) Physics classes. Using a one-group pretest-posttest design, 58 students identified from a simple random sampling method were tested for their conceptual understanding and engagement with in kinematics. The results showed that students'…

In this paper, we aim to show strategies for improving graph interpretation skills at middle and high school students using OZOBOT® BIT, a small and relatively low-cost programmable robot which had been used to teach programming to young children. OZOBOT's speed can be controlled by drawing lines with colour codes, as well as through a visual…

An application for visualizing the dynamic properties of an equimolar binary mixture of isotropic reactive particles is presented. By introducing a user selectable choice for the activation energy, the application is useful to demonstrate qualitatively that the reaction rate depends on the above choice and on temperature. The application is based…

In most high school physics classes, gravity is described as an attractive force between two masses as formulated by Newton over 300 years ago. Einstein's general theory of relativity implies that gravitational effects are instead the result of a "curvature" of space-time. However, explaining why things fall without resorting to Newton's…

In this paper we present a novel approach to teach kinetic energy as an observable and measurable concept. The fundamental principles have been outlined for gravitational potential energy in an earlier work, that we extend here. By accelerating or decelerating bodies with springs we begin, in a first step, with a direct comparison method for…

This study aimed to expand PDEODE*E Tasks with the Think-Pair-Share model for reconstructing students' misconceptions on work and energy. The PDEODE*E Tasks with Think-Pair-Share model implemented for students who had not taught the concept of work and energy. The participants include 36 students of tenth grade (22 girls and 14 boys, whose ages…

Many university and high school introductory physics courses include a laboratory portion where students follow a manual to conduct "cookbook" experiments. Here, we present an authentic research project for introductory physics students that focuses on kinematics that can be done outside a formal laboratory space. This experiment can be…

Research in the field of physics teaching has revealed high school students' difficulties in establishing relations between kinematic equations and real movements. Moreover, there are well-known and significant challenges in their comprehension of graphic language content. Thus, this article explores a didactic activity which utilized robotics in…

Many teachers are confused about how to implement the phenomena-based teaching recommended by the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States 2013). This article describes one possible approach--purposely repurposing existing activities. This process involves having teachers: (1) Choose a phenomenon that informs the development…

In selecting from a repertoire of traditional kinetics experiments, an instructor often has to choose among having students gain experience with the graphical method, the method of initial rates, or a temperature-dependent experiment in which students construct an Arrhenius plot. This paper presents an environmentally friendly bleaching reaction…

In high-school teaching of mechanics, we deal, among other things, with the nature of static and kinetic friction, forces that are proportional to the normal force. Under the influence of frictional forces, a body moves down a rough sloped decline at a fixed rate of acceleration that is independent of its mass. This situation does not apply to…

Recently there has been a renewed interest in the development and use of pedagogical games, as they provide an interesting approach to the appropriation of knowledge in the context of active learning. However, most didactic games fail to completely implement a cycle of reflection and action, thereby fostering mostly lower-order thinking skills and…