The use of texts is an indispensable resource for students' learning, especially in science domains. While developing understanding of a specific topic usually is the main goal of reading expository texts, an important consideration is how to best measure whether this understanding has been reached. In this study, we aimed to analyze gains in…

Drawing, constructing, and explaining a model of a given abstract phenomenon is a challenging task. In this study, students were engaged in the "Project-Based Inquiry Science (PBIS)-Air Quality" learning unit, as part of their chemistry curriculum. The study aim is to determine how well students understand chemistry conceptually after…

Students' science identity has been identified as an important construct that positively influences their learning engagement, persistence, and career intentions in science. This paper reported the process of developing and validating an instrument that can be used to assess high school students' science identity. The development of this…

This paper re-validates middle school students' learning progression of the concept of buoyancy (Gao et al., 2020) by using two-time point data. The previous study developed a four-level learning progression based on data collected at a single time point using cross-sectional design. This single-time-point model of learning progression calls for a…

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of three different software simulations for studying Ohm's law and connecting resistors on students' academic performance. A total of 168 eighth-grade pupils were divided into three groups. The first group used the software containing the simulation with an already created electrical circuit, an…

The decreasing number of young students pursuing science careers has become a rising concern worldwide, particularly in China. Educational programs with empirical evidence of promoting young students' pursuit of science careers are still lacking. Here, drawing on the existing literature, we designed and implemented a 3-day quasi-apprenticeship…

Justifications play a central role in argumentation, which is a core topic in school science education. This paper contributes to this field of research by presenting two studies in which we assess students' justifications for supporting or rejecting hypotheses in the physics lab based on self-collected, anomalous experimental data, which are…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Mathematics Infusion into Science Project (MiSP), which integrated science and mathematics in an engaging middle school science curriculum that fostered improvements in science content knowledge, higher-level problem solving, and affective domains related to mathematics. The project design was based…

The shortage of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) professionals worldwide calls for research to identify social forces that can foster student career interest in this domain. In this study, we examined the underlying structure of middle school student STEM career interest and the role of their parents' STEM-specific…

There is growing evidence that science capital (science-related forms of social and cultural capital) and family habitus (dispositions for science) influence STEM career decisions by youth. This study presents reliability and validity evidence for a survey of factors that influence career aspirations in science. Psychometric properties of the…

The objective of this study was to explore the relationships between academic hardiness in science, conceptions of learning science, and science learning self-efficacy among Malaysian middle school students. The respondents were 320 eighth-grade students from two selected Malaysian middle schools. Three questionnaires were used for this survey:…

We applied latent class analysis and the rule space model to verify the cumulative characteristic of conceptual change by developing a learning progression for buoyancy. For this study, we first abstracted seven attributes of buoyancy and then developed a hypothesized learning progression for buoyancy. A 14-item buoyancy instrument was…

Classroom environment, family, and peers are important factors in influencing students' science learning. The primary aim of this study was to examine the effects of three environmental factors related to science learning (motivating science class, family models, and peer models) on students' approaches to learning science (deep approach and…

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…

Increasing student exposure to autonomy-supportive teaching approaches has been linked to enhanced student intrinsic motivation to learn. However, such approaches are rare in mainland Chinese science classrooms. An intervention-based study with quasi-experimental design and mixed methods was conducted to explore the impact of a 9-month-long…