This study reports on the theoretical- and empirical-based design and evaluation of cell membrane biology learning activities within the Model of Educational Reconstruction and experiential realism. First, we designed analogy-based learning activities by considering students' and scientists' conceptions as described in the literature. Secondly, we…

This paper explores the extent to which Biology syllabi are open to students' engagement with and acquisition of critical thinking skills in Tanzania's developing country context. It focuses on the Biology syllabus of Ordinary-level secondary education and that of Advanced-level secondary education. The paper reports the findings of a study whose…

Reflection on current practices is key to the transformation of teachers into reflexive practitioners. This study describes how design thinking was integrated in Schön's 'reflection in and on' model, to transform traditional teaching of Biology into constructivist learning. As a first step, the reflection model was used to identify limitations in…

In this article, we present how educational resources for zoology designed by undergraduate students help to propose means of action for teaching diversity and animal evolution in basic education. We realised that activities of creation and analysis of educational resources, in the context of didactic planning, have the potential to approximate…

Feedback loop reasoning is an essential part of systems thinking, which includes the analysis and description of system behaviour and regulative measures. In feedback loops, every change can simultaneously represent a cause and an effect. Research on reasoning in feedback loops is limited to investigating students' existing mental models. This…

The professional profiles of future scientists need to undergo a deep and rapid change to address recent advances in biomedical sciences and the social and environmental contexts in which we currently live. For instance, they have to be trained to be able to develop innovative and creative strategies for solving complex problems under a…

Contemporary research suggests an urgent need for educators to improve the quality of STEM teaching and learning. We developed a semester-long model curriculum for STEM teaching and learning. The overarching goal of this study was to establish an authentic inquiry approach to advanced laboratory courses that is interdisciplinary, collaborative,…

Systems thinking, the ability to reason about systems in abstract terms, fosters students' coherent understanding of biology. This study aimed to determine to what extent the integration of systems thinking in Dutch biology education is in line with perspectives from systems theories and experts. We related the perspective on systems thinking of…

Developing students' systems thinking is an often-posed demand in education for sustainable development (ESD) and science literacy. Several studies have shown that systems thinking can be fostered in students of different education levels. Therefore, science teachers who are required to teach ESD-relevant topics should be proficient in systems…

Students often have misconceptions about terrestrial carbon flows and there is a lack of coherence in students' explanations regarding the different levels of biological organisation at which these processes occur. In this study, problem-based teaching materials on the topic of terrestrial carbon flows were developed and tested with 15 students…

Antibiotic resistance is typically used to justify education about evolution, as evolutionary reasoning improves our understanding of causes of resistance and possible countermeasures. It has also been promoted as a useful context for teaching natural selection, because its potency as a selection factor, in combination with the very short…

This study investigates how lower elementary students used the technical terms in the context of ecology. We interviewed 44 students using several scenarios related to the ecosystem. We determined the general frequency of technical terms used from a preselected list commonly employed by scientists in their discourse about ecosystems. Then, we…

The ability to interpret and reason from Tree of Life diagrams is a key component of twenty-first century science literacy. This article reports on the authors' continued development of a multifaceted research-based curriculum--including an instructional booklet, lectures, laboratories and a field activity--to teach such tree thinking to biology…

One of the learning outcomes of learning Animal Embryology and Reproduction is that students can explain concepts about reproduction or embryology theory. Since concept map-based learning can improve students' critical thinking skills and analysis, and support their interest in learning, this study analysed the ability of students enrolled in the…

High school students need to be introduced to and trained in system thinking skills as one of the implementations of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This study aimed to develop high school students' systems thinking skills through ESD-laden project-based learning on environmental change material. A pre-experimental method was applied…