We used the Rule Space Model, a cognitive diagnostic model, to measure the learning progression for thermochemistry for senior high school students. We extracted five attributes and proposed their hierarchical relationships to model the construct of thermochemistry at four levels using a hypothesized learning progression. For this study, we…

Presents an action-research study of student scientific literacy that is analyzed by two metaphors of learning: students working in science as if they follow recipes, and students working in science as if they devise recipes. Considers the usefulness of the metaphors as a framework to provide common ground for otherwise divergent views on…

Contrasts naive beliefs about the nature of science with science as it appears from sociological and philosophical study, feminist critique, and insights from multicultural education. Pragmatic school science is situated within a framework that questions how we know and the recognition that even high-status knowledge can be challenged. (AIM)