Aim: This study aims to elevate the modelling skills of Grade 10 students in understanding the circulatory system, using model-based learning, to a level where they can achieve at least a 70% passing score on a relevant unit test. Method: The study involved 23 students and implemented a model-based learning approach. Research tools included a…

We present an example of a novel, model-based approach to instruction in which learners constructed a representation of a specific phenomenon, evaluated their representation, and then revised it, via an abstraction process, to construct a model. The example took place in high school in the context of solution chemistry. The aim of the instruction…

Background: It is crucial to support students in better understanding water and sustainability issues because water plays a vital role in maintaining global ecosystems, including human life. A wide range of curricular and instructional supports like those embodied in model-based learning (MBL) are necessary for teachers to engage students in the…

Troubleshooting activities require students to diagnose teacher-crafted erroneous examples by detecting and explaining the conceptual errors driving them. In a previous study, the author tested whether diagnosing erroneous examples and then scoring them using a rubric that contained the related worked examples, a step-by-step strategy to solve a…

Reading can be considered constitutive epistemology for science and a fundamental aspect of scientific literacy. This study attempted to give further insights into the comprehension of different genres of science texts (textbook and popular science) and the assimilation of the academic language by adolescent age students. The writings 14- and…

Recently, students' interest in science has been conceptualized as a network model: the science interest network model (SINM) in which affective, behavioural and cognitive components interact together; building on science interest being a dynamic relational construct. In the current study, we combine the Australian Programme for International…

There is growing interest in the introduction of Einsteinian concepts of space, time, light and gravity across the entire school curriculum. We have developed an educational programme named 'Einstein-First', which focuses on teaching Einsteinian concepts by using simple models and analogies. To test the effectiveness of these models and analogies…

This paper reports a case study of four grade 10 physical sciences teachers' PCK about graphs of motion. We used three data collection strategies, namely teachers' written accounts, captured by the content representation (CoRe) tool, interviews and classroom observations. We conceptualised the PCK displayed in the CoRe tool and the interviews as…

This paper reports on an interview study of 18 Grade 10-12 students' model-based reasoning of a chemical reaction: the reaction of magnesium and oxygen at the submicro level. It has been proposed that chemical reactions can be conceptualised using two models: (i) the "particle model," in which a reaction is regarded as the simple…

The purpose of this study was to explore high school students' ideas regarding two theoretical scientific models, either electron cloud or sodium chloride crystal, in the context of active learning in small groups. Conversations among peers regarding these models took place during two types of active learning activities: small-group discussion and…

This study aimed to identify the needs of a 10th grade congenitally blind student in an inclusive chemistry classroom and design and develop tactile materials to teach the 'energy in living systems' topic with particular emphasis on covering the symbolic language of the chemistry. A single case study design was used to carry out an in-depth and…

In this design case, we describe our work to design and develop a socio-scientific issue (SSI) based unit of instruction for use in high school biology. Our team includes university based science educators, an experienced classroom teacher, and a microbiologist. The unit focuses on antibiotic resistant bacteria as a context for student exploration…

Recent research on what students know about complex systems shows that they typically have challenges in understanding particular system ideas such as nonlinearity, complex causality, and decentralized control. Yet this research has yet to adopt a systematic approach to learning about complex systems in an ordered way in line with the Next…

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate an authentic contextual learning framework with six constructs to model the relationships among essential factors of authentic contextual learning. In particular, this framework explores the relationships across six constructs, i.e. learning by applying, healthy learning, collaborative learning,…

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of the Common Knowledge Construction Model (CKCM) on 10th-grade students' conceptual understanding of the buoyancy and density of liquids topic. Within a pre-experimental (one group pre-test/post-test) research design, this study was conducted with 22 of 10th-grade students. To collect data, the…