The research assessed secondary school students' conceptions of acid-base strengths by using the conceptual change instruction accompanied with concept maps and analogies. These teaching strategies were employed to help them make unfamiliar events familiar. Within a quasi-experimental design, the sample of the study consisted of 73 secondary…

This study examined the reflection interview as a tool for assessing and facilitating the use of "systems language" amongst 11th grade students who have recently completed their first year of high school biology. Eighty-three students composed two concept maps in the 10th grade--one at the beginning of the school year and one at its end.…

This study describes the process of defining a hypothetical learning progression (LP) for astronomy around the big idea of "Solar System formation." At the most sophisticated level, students can explain how the formation process led to the current Solar System by considering how the planets formed from the collapse of a rotating cloud of…

Although concept maps have been used as alternative assessment methods in education, there has been an ongoing debate on how to evaluate students' concept maps. This study discusses how to evaluate students' concept maps as an assessment tool before and after 15 computer-based Predict-Observe-Explain (CB-POE) tasks related to acid-base chemistry.…

These 2 studies investigate the extent to which an Embodied Mixed Reality Learning Environment (EMRELE) can enhance science learning compared to regular classroom instruction. Mixed reality means that physical tangible and digital components were present. The content for the EMRELE required that students map abstract concepts and relations onto…

Systemic assessment questions (SAQs) are novel assessment tools used in the context of the Systemic Approach to Teaching and Learning (SATL) model. The purpose of this model is to enhance students' meaningful understanding of scientific concepts by use of constructivist concept mapping procedures, which emphasize the development of systems…

The present study conducted to investigate the contribution of conceptual change texts, accompanied by concept mapping instruction to eleventh-grade students' understanding of cellular respiration concepts, and their retention of this understanding. Cellular respiration concepts test was developed as a result of examination of related literature…

This study aims to investigate the effects of concept maps, together with conceptual change texts, given to 11th grade students' on the subject of molecules carrying genetical information. The semistructured individual interviews were conducted with 5 upper class students to find misconceptions related to the subject. A success test was developed…

Emerging from a human constructivist view of learning and a punctuated model of conceptual change, these studies explored differences in the structural complexity and content validity of knowledge about prehistoric life depicted in concept maps by learners ranging in age from approximately 10 to 20 years. Study 1 (cross-age) explored the…