This study aims to evaluate students' ability to process the context information embedded in chemistry problems. To achieve this goal, a diagnostic measurement instrument was developed, comprising 28 short-answer items embedded in seven context-based chemistry tasks. Four hundred and ninety-three ninth-graders took part in the testing in Jiangsu,…

Triggered by the pilot of the "Gao-Kao" reform, the avoidance of physics courses in senior high school has aroused the concern of society in China. The factors that influence the motivation to learn physics are an important research topic, especially for countries that have a disciplinary-based education tradition in secondary school.…

This study explored how peer feedback after hands-on scientific inquiry (SI) activities affected students' SI competence over time (6 weeks) by implementing an after-school intervention program in which 188 Chinese ninth-grade students (14-16 years old) participated during their first semester. A between-subject experimental design was used for…

Incorporating design in science programs has been shown to enhance science understanding, practices, and problem-solving skills. However, instructors and students typically struggle with fostering effective communication within a design-based course. With better communication scaffolding, students would learn more content and also become better at…

This study is aimed at examining science teachers' views of argument in scientific inquiry and argument-based science instruction. Questionnaires were collected from 53 middle and high school science teachers in the metropolitan area of the Republic of Korea. More than half of these respondents seemed to have a clear understanding of argument in…

Information literacy--i.e. obtaining, evaluating and using information--is a key element of scientific literacy. However, students are frequently equipped with poor information literacy skills--even at university level--as information literacy is often not explicitly taught in schools. Little is known about students' information skills in science…

One of the objectives of science education in science centres has been the enhancement of interest in science. However, museum fatigue has a negative impact on interest. Museum fatigue has been described as physical tiredness or a decrease in visitors' interest in a museum. The learning experience of students in science centres is also influenced…

Students' conceptions of learning science and their relations with motive for learning may vary as the education level increases. This study aimed to compare the quantitative patterns in students' conceptions of learning science (COLS) and motives for learning science (MLS) across grade levels by adopting two survey instruments. A total of 768…

This study is aimed at exploring ninth-grade Bhutanese students' views of nature of science (NOS). A total of 389 students from middle secondary and higher secondary schools from the eastern, western, southern and central regions of Bhutan took part in this study. To generate a representative population, a stratified random sampling technique was…

To obtain a general understanding of science, model use as part of National Education Standards is important for instruction. Model use can be characterized by three aspects: (1) the characteristics of the model, (2) the integration of the model into instruction, and (3) the use of models to foster scientific reasoning. However, there were no…

From a social semiotic perspective, image designs in science textbooks are inevitably influenced by the sociocultural context in which the books are produced. The learning environments of Australia and Taiwan vary greatly. Drawing on social semiotics and cognitive science, this study compares classificational images in Australian and Taiwanese…

This study explores the concept of link-making in relation to communicative strategies applied in the teaching and studying of biological evolution. The analysis focused on video recordings of 11 lessons on biological evolution conducted in a Swedish 9th grade class of students aged 15 years. It reveals how the teacher and students connected…