The advancement of technology has led to a growing interest in assessing scientific inquiry within digital platforms. This shift towards dynamic and interactive inquiry assessments enables researchers to investigate not only the accuracy of student responses ("product data") but also their steps and actions leading to those responses…

There is currently a lack of systematic study examining the integration of verbal-visual elements in science textbooks. In particular, few research has investigated how different types of visual representations (e.g. photograph, diagram, table) vary across the major written genres of science (e.g. information report, explanation). Based on the…

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,…

Teachers' understanding and teaching of argumentation is gaining more attention in science education research. However, little is known about how science teachers engage in argumentation with teachers of different subject taking an interdisciplinary perspective that may inspire new pedagogical ideas or strategies. In particular, the positioning of…

The significance of the role of students' interpretation and creation of multiple forms of representation in science learning has long been established and advocated, but there is a paucity of research into the extent to which this emphasis in science education is reflected in high stakes final year high school science examinations. This study…

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…

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…

There has been a strong narrative in Australia of falling attainment in high school science, with much of the campaign informed by results from international standardised tests such as Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which shows a year-on-year decline in scientific literacy of Australian 15-year-old students. These results…

In recent decades, several countries have made efforts to close the historic gender gap in physics through curricular reforms. Research indicates that while the acute underrepresentation of females in physics courses and related careers is linked to a number of interlaced social, contextual and motivational factors, the personal relevance of…

This study aims to examine the moderating effect of participation in informal science activities on the associations among students' awareness of environmental issues and their attitudes toward science and epistemological beliefs. The data set included 9841 15-year-old students from four Chinese provinces (Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and…

In English-medium instruction (EMI), English-as-a-second-language students will learn all/some subjects through English. Although there are a considerable number of studies which explore classroom interaction in Hong Kong (HK) secondary EMI schools, few studies have investigated EMI lessons which involve South Asian ethnic minorised students.…

Science education is essential for sustainability and prosperity. However, students from rural communities, arguably the future custodians of our environment and significant drivers of our economies, underperform in science education. In Australia, rural students generally lag behind metropolitan students in science achievement and engagement.…

Recent international comparison studies such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) repeatedly argued that inquiry-based learning (IBL) indicated a negative effect on science literacy (SL). However, those studies included two limitations in revealing the relationship between IBL and SL as they did not consider (1)…

This study presents findings from testing an innovative student-centred drama-based teaching methodology for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines for secondary school students. The method, based on performances, was tested in two case studies, Spain and the UK, on a sample of 2089 students. These performances have…