DBL is a novel pedagogical approach intended to improve students' conditional knowledge and problem-solving skills by exposing them to a sequence of branching learning decisions. The DBL software provided students with ample opportunities to engage in the expert decision-making processes involved in complex problem-solving and to receive…

Understanding particle motion in force fields (PMFF), which encompasses the nature of forces and the relationship between force and motion, is fundamental to mastering mechanics and electromagnetism. Effectively solving PMFF-related problems requires advanced reasoning skills and the ability to apply knowledge across diverse contexts. Despite…

A recent American Enterprise Institute report examines long-term patterns in student performance using data from national and international assessments. It identifies four major trends: (1) student performance peaked in the early 2010s before declining, (2) lower-performing students have seen the sharpest declines, (3) achievement gaps in the U.S.…

This study aimed to compare the effects of computer-based lessons versus traditional lessons on achievement of university students regarding meiotic cell division. A pretest-intervention-posttest design was used. To determine the effect of our computer-based intervention, we established a control group. In total, 100 second-year university…

We developed the Physics Inventory of Quantitative Literacy (PIQL) to assess students' quantitative reasoning in introductory physics contexts. The PIQL includes several "multiple-choice-multipleresponse" (MCMR) items (i.e., multiple-choice questions for which more than one response may be selected) as well as traditional single-response…

Collaborative two-stage exams provide an effective mechanism to incorporate group work into summative course assessments. We implemented these exams in an upper-level biology laboratory course over two terms, one with online exams and one with in-person exams. We compared student exam performance and perceptions of two-stage exams and group work…

While the innovativeness of the flipped classroom (FC) approach promotes active participation and higher-order thinking among students, there are concerns about its effectiveness in terms of knowledge retention. Currently, there are no studies involving medical school biochemistry that evaluate this aspect of effectiveness. Thus, we conducted a…

This study investigated the effects of outdoor education on a 10th grade biology curriculum in terms of the knowledge, attitudes, and retention of students compared to indoor teaching. The quasi-experimental design included three groups: experiment (OE; N = 43), control-II (indoor teaching; N = 35), and control-I (no application; N = 35). A…

This study aimed to assess the impact of problem-based learning (PBL) on students' achievement in mechanical waves among secondary schools in South Western Uganda. Four hundred and nineteen students (419) from 19 schools were involved in this study. A quasi-experimental research method was employed through Solomon's four-group design. Form six…

The study investigated the effects of a combination of Peer Discussion and Isomorphic Problems (PD-IPs) on high school students' graph understanding and conceptual learning. The study was conducted on kinematics and Newton's Laws of Motion with 67 high school students from two groups. The experimental group (EG) consisted of 34 students, while the…

In this study, we investigated female and male students' sense of belonging and their academic performance measured by the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) and course grades in a calculus-based introductory physics course at a large public university in the United States. We find that compared to male students, female students' sense of belonging was…

The landscape of undergraduate biology education has been shaped by decades of reform efforts calling for instruction to integrate core concepts and scientific skills as a means of helping students become proficient in the discipline. Assessments can be used to make inferences about how these reform efforts have translated into changes in…

Previous studies have shown the important role of different representations in the teaching and learning of physics. In this study, we used eye tracking to investigate the effect of different representations on the process of answering conceptual questions. We compared students' scores and eye-tracking measures on isomorphic questions which…

The traditional description of "the scientific method" as a stepwise, linear process of hypothesis testing through experimentation is a myth. Although the teaching and learning of the scientific method have been a curriculum and assessment goal, the notion of the 'scientific method' itself has been identified as being problematic. Many…

This paper presents improvements made to a computerized adaptive testing (CAT)-based version of the FCI (FCI-CAT) in regards to test security and test efficiency. First, we will discuss measures to enhance test security by controlling for item overexposure, decreasing the risk that respondents may (i) memorize the content of a pretest for use on…