This study aims to determine pre-service science teachers' metaconceptual activities about the design of processes to teach science concepts in their pre-active phase. A single-case design was used. The eight pre-service science teachers participated in this study. An activity journal and an instruction process evaluation developed by the…

This study aims to examine the effect of the instructional plan which includes workshops pedagogically modelling the exhibitions at science centres for an effective field trip, on high school students' learning the concepts on 'Simple Machines: Pulley and Levers'. In this study, a semi-experimental design with the pre- and post-test control group…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of pre-service chemistry teachers' (PCTs') argumentation skills in a laboratory course throughout a semester. A case study design was utilised. A total of six PCTs participated in the study. To investigate the development of PCTs' argumentation skills, the laboratory reports that were in…

The aim of this study was to characterise thoroughly the differences between Physics Olympiad competitors' and regular students' successes and approaches in relation to counterintuitive dynamics problems (CDPs) in order to discover some of the differences between skilled problem-solvers and those with fewer such skills. A total of 23 Physics…

This cross-sectional study examined how the progression and consistency of students' understanding of thermal concepts in everyday contexts changes across the grade levels. A total of 656 Turkish students from Grade 8 (age 13-14), Grade 10 (age 15-16), and the first year of college (age 19-20) participated in the study. The data were analysed…

There exists bias among students that learning organic chemistry topics requires rote learning. In this paper, we address such bias through an organic chemistry activity designed to promote argumentation. We investigated how pre-service science teachers engage in an argumentation about conformational analysis. Analysis of the outcomes concentrated…

The literature in science education highlights the potentially significant role of outside-school factors such as parents, cultural contexts and role models in students' formation of science attitudes and aspirations, and their attainment in science classes. In this paper, building on and linking Bourdieu's key concepts of habitus, cultural and…

The aim of this study was to investigate the kinds of argumentation schemes generated by pre-service elementary science teachers (PSTs) as they perform inquiry-oriented laboratory tasks, and to explore how argumentation schemes vary by task as well as by experimentation and discussion sessions. The model of argumentative and scientific inquiry was…

This study examines the impact of argumentation practices on pre-service teachers' understanding of chemical equilibrium. The sample consisted of 100 pre-service teachers in two classes of a public university. One of these classes was assigned as experimental and the other as control group, randomly. In the experimental group, the subject of…

This study focused on the development of a two-tier multiple-choice diagnostic instrument, which was designed and then progressively modified, and implemented to assess students' understanding of solution chemistry concepts. The results of the study are derived from the responses of 756 Grade 11 students (age 16-17) from 14 different high schools…

Concept mapping is a technique that paves the way to represent knowledge schematically. In this research, concept mapping was used as an assessment method on the impulse-momentum topic. The purpose of this study was to determine teacher candidates' knowledge about understanding of the concepts of impulse and momentum by comparing and contrasting…

This study discusses preservice elementary science teachers' (PSTs) epistemological beliefs and the relationships among their epistemological beliefs, epistemological world views, and self-efficacy beliefs. Four hundred and twenty-nine PSTs who were enrolled in five large universities completed the Schommer Epistemological Questionnaire (SEQ), the…

The purpose of this study was twofold. First, it was aimed to identify Turkish pre-service physics teachers' knowledge and understanding of the Moon, Moon phases, and other lunar phenomena. Second, the effects of model-based teaching on pre-service teachers' conceptions were examined. Conceptions were proposed as mental models in this study. Four…

Although electromagnetism is an important component of upper secondary school physics syllabuses in many countries, there has been relatively little research on students' understanding of the topic. A written test consisting of 16 diagnostic questions was developed and used to survey the understanding of electromagnetism of upper secondary school…

This cross-sectional study identifies key conceptual difficulties experienced by upper secondary school and pre-service chemistry teachers (N = 191) in the area of reaction rates. Students' ideas about reaction rates were elicited through a series of written tasks and individual interviews. In this paper, students' ideas related to reaction rate…