This Statistics in Brief (SiB) uses data from the 2011 and 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and explores how achievement gaps between high- and low-performing 4th- and 8th-grade students in the U.S. and other education systems have changed over time. Achievement gaps are defined as the differences in scores…

Retrieval practice typically benefits later memory more than restudy (i.e., the testing effect). The benefits of retrieval-based learning generalize across a range of materials and contexts, leading many cognitive scientists to advocate for broad educational implementation. However, educators and practitioners call for more research on factors…

The Microbiology Concept Inventory is an assessment tool derived from the fundamental statements created by the American Society for Microbiology. This two-tier, multiple-choice question inventory requires students to choose the most correct answer for each question and provide a brief justification of their reasoning. Educators can utilize this…

In the educational literature on peer effects, attention has been brought to the fact that the mechanisms creating peer effects are still to a large extent hidden in obscurity. The hypothesis in the study reported in this article was that the Frame Factor Theory (FFT) can be used to reveal such mechanisms. Using data from the Swedish TIMSS 2015 (N…

This report leverages state educational agency data to explore the association between Alabama Science in Motion (ASIM) implementation and student outcomes. We conducted this study in Alabama to evaluate the potential of teacher implementation of ASIM lab activities to improve high school level student achievement in science. This study follows a…

Over the past three decades Australia has developed an increasingly advanced national system of student assessments, results from which have been used to identify areas of growth, stagnation or decline in student learning. For the most part, trends in different standardised assessments have been considered in isolation. By examining literacy and…

Cognitive scientists and psychology researchers have given growing attention to evidence of the testing effect, that is, the improvement of students' recall through memory-retrieval practice in the form of quizzes and exams. While laboratory experiments consistently show dramatic positive effects on learning through the testing effect,…

This study focuses on developing the new level of scientific argumentation skills and new items that are feasible and valid for used. There are 195 science students at Islamic State School 1 (MAN 1) Yogyakarta as participant in this study. Random sampling technique was used from the three schools of Islamis State School (MAN) in Yogyakarta,…

Work, as a concept, is often encountered in daily life, but the meaning of work in physics is closely related to power, force, and energy. Studies made about various concepts and subjects have proved that using words in ways different from their scientific meanings has a negative effect on teaching, and causes conceptual complexities and/or…

Problem-solving categorization tasks have been well studied and used as an effective tool for assessment of student knowledge structure. In this study, a traditional free-response categorization test has been modified into a multiple-choice format, and the effectiveness of this new assessment is evaluated. Through randomized testing with Chinese…

Metabolomics, the large-scale study of metabolites in biological fluids and tissues, offers the ability to observe metabolic changes in a broad context. Traditionally, nutritional metabolism education has focused on theory using textbooks. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of involving students in a feeding research study…

We have successfully developed a one-semester general chemistry course that meets the primary learning goals of the traditional two-semester sequence. It is appropriate for physical, life, and earth science majors. Since implementation, 88% of students who start general chemistry complete it, an increase from 72% in our prior traditional…

Summative year end assessments are a major component of student assessment at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London. More than 600 students participate in over 40 different exams during the summer term. At the end of the spring term, the college moved to fully remote operation due to COVID-19, leaving the academic…

Two-stage exams, in which students first complete an exam individually and then again as a group, have been used successfully in many disciplines to promote collaboration, learning, and retention of learning. However, it is unknown what the impacts of two-stage exams would be with chemical engineering students. In this study, two-stage exams were…

Beginning in September 2020, students will have the option to retake one or more sections of the ACT® test (referred to as section retesting, modular testing, or single-subject retesting), instead of needing to take the entire battery again. Section retests will only be available to students who have previously completed the full battery and only…