This paper discusses a K-12/university collaboration in which students participated in a four-day scenario-based summer STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) camp aimed at making difficult scientific concepts salient. This scenario, Jumpstart STEM-CSI: Chocolate Science Investigation (JSCSI), used open- and guided-inquiry…

A small group of high school students performed a virtual laboratory experiment in Second Life that mimicked a real experiment in both its appearance and procedure. Lab report grades were equivalent to report grades for hands-on experiments, and the quality of students' results was similar. Results of an attitudinal survey show that students…

Helping students develop a sound understanding of scientific concepts can be a major challenge. Lately, learning progressions have received increasing attention as a means to support students in developing understanding of core scientific concepts. At the center of a learning progression is a sequence of developmental levels reflecting an…

There has been much interest in magnetite (Fe[subscript 3]O[subscript 4]) due to its utility in adsorbing high concentrations of arsenic in contaminated water. The magnetic properties of the material allow for simple dispersion and removal from an aqueous system. An inquiry-based laboratory has been developed that illustrates these unique…

Systemic assessment questions (SAQs) are novel assessment tools used in the context of the Systemic Approach to Teaching and Learning (SATL) model. The purpose of this model is to enhance students' meaningful understanding of scientific concepts by use of constructivist concept mapping procedures, which emphasize the development of systems…

The goal of this comparative study was to determine the knowledge that French and Turkish upper secondary-school students (grades 11 and 12) acquire on the concept of acid-base reactions. Following an examination of the relevant curricula and textbooks in the two countries, 528 students answered six written questions about the acid-base concept.…

The results from a study to explore pre-service teachers' understanding of ionization energy, a topic that features in A-level (grade 11 and 12) chemistry courses. in Singapore , is described. A previous study using a two-tier multiple choice diagnostic test has shown that Singapore A-level students have considerable difficulty understanding the…