[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Astronomy Education Research.] As part of a larger project studying undergraduate students' understanding of cosmology, we explored students' ideas about the curvature of the Universe. We investigated preinstruction ideas held by introductory astronomy (ASTRO 101) students at three participating…

The purpose of current research is to explore the influence of a science teaching method course incorporating explicit reflective NOS instruction on pre-service science teachers' views of NOS and justifications in their arguments related to their decision-making on socio-scientific issues. This study is a case study and the participants were 5…

Organic chemistry students struggle with multiple aspects of reaction mechanisms and the curved arrow notation used by organic chemists. Many faculty believe that an understanding of nucleophiles and electrophiles, among other concepts, is required before students can develop fluency with the electronpushing formalism (EPF). An expert concept map…

This work proposes initially to identify the initial conceptions of Moroccan students in the first year of secondary college about the notion of earthquakes. The used methodology is based on a questionnaire addressed to students of life science and Earth in Meknes city, before any official teaching about the said phenomenon. The obtained results…

Photosynthesis is the most important biochemical process on Earth. Most living beings depend on it directly or indirectly. Knowledge about photosynthesis enables us to understand how the world functions as an ecosystem and how photosynthesis acts as a bridge between the non-living and living worlds. It is, therefore, understandable that…

This study examined Turkish pre-service science teachers' awareness, uncertainty beliefs, values, and behaviours pertinent to climate change. It aimed to determine significant predictors of climate change-related behaviours and uncertainty beliefs about the reality of climate change. A Turkish-adapted survey was administered to 1277 pre-service…

Many topics in introductory astronomy at the college or high-school level rely implicitly on using astronomical photographs and visual data in class. However, students bring many preconceptions to their understanding of these materials that ultimately lead to misconceptions, and the research about students' interpretation of astronomical images…

Most organic chemistry reactions occur by a mechanism that includes acid-base chemistry, so it is important that students develop and learn to use correct conceptions of acids and acid strength. Recent studies have described undergraduate organic chemistry students' cognitive resources related to the Brønsted-Lowry acid model and the Lewis acid…

Many topics in introductory astronomy at the college or high-school level rely implicitly on using astronomical photographs and visual data in class. However, students bring many preconceptions to their understanding of these materials that ultimately lead to misconceptions, and research about students' interpretation of astronomical images has…

Students who lack metacognitive skills can struggle with the learning process. To be effective learners, students should recognize what they know and what they do not know. This study examines the relationship between students' perception of their knowledge and determined knowledge in an upper-level biology course utilizing a pre/posttest…

This study investigates vocabulary learning strategy (VLS) preferences of lower and higher proficiency Japanese university science students studying English as a foreign language. The study was conducted over a 9-week period as the participants received supplemental explicit VLS instruction on six strategies. The 38 participants (14 males and 24…

The purpose of this study was to assess pre-service science teachers' understanding of science, scientific argumentation and the difference between scientific argumentation and scientific explanation. A total of 40 pre-service science teachers enrolled in a Turkish university completed a five-question questionnaire. The results showed that the…

The current study aims to determine biology student teachers' cognitive structure on the concept of "living thing" through revealing their conceptual framework. Qualitative research method was applied in this study. The data were collected from 44 biology student teachers. A free word association test was used as a data collection…

A partially unusual behaviour was found among 14 sophomore students of civil engineering who took a pre test for a free fall laboratory session, in the context of a general mechanics course. An analysis contemplating mathematics models and physics models consistency was made. In all cases, the students presented evidence favoring a correct free…

This study examined engineering and physical science students' understanding of the electromagnetic induction (EMI) phenomena. It is assumed that significant knowledge of the EMI theory is a basic prerequisite when students have to think about electromagnetic phenomena. To analyse students' conceptions, we have taken into account the fact that…