The Physiology Core Concept of flow down gradients is a major concept in physiology, as pressure gradients are the key driving force for the bulk flow of fluids in biology. However, students struggle to understand that this principle is foundational to the mechanisms governing bulk flow across diverse physiological systems (e.g., blood flow,…

One of the goals of science education is to help students make sense of the world around them. To that end, it is critical that students understand the central ideas in each discipline like, in chemistry, energy and interactions. These ideas are of particular importance because they are directly related to one another and are relevant across other…

Model-based instruction offers numerous benefits to students, including increased content knowledge and critical thinking. This study explored the differences in the knowledge outcomes and reasoning processes employed by undergraduate students in an introductory biology lab as they constructed, revised, and simulated a computational model of a…

Scientific reasoning is crucial to any scientific discipline. One sub-skill particularly relevant to the scientific enterprise is theory evidence coordination. This study, underpinned by Kuhn's framework for scientific reasoning, investigates how university students coordinate their self-generated theory and evidence in a physics topic (energy)…

This research was aimed at profiling student's thinking skills in dealing with Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) questions based on Marzano taxonomy by referring to 13 indicators. This pre-experimental research employed pretest-posttest design. The indicators included were comparison, classification, deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning,…

The use of scientific modeling has been shown to be highly effective in the learning of science content in multiple disciplines for non-English Learners (EL). However, the benefits of using this pedagogy with ELs have not been heavily explored. This article discusses the use of modeling-based evolution and population ecology pedagogical units in a…

We present a multiple-choice test, the Montana State University Formal Reasoning Test (FORT), to assess college students' scientific reasoning ability. The test defines scientific reasoning to be equivalent to formal operational reasoning. It contains 20 questions divided evenly among five types of problems: control of variables, hypothesis…

Analogies have many advantages for students such as concretizing abstract concepts and enabling motivation. Analogies are frequently used in textbooks. Research shows that the analogies in textbooks are not used based on certain directives and sometimes lead to misconceptions for students. Therefore, analysing the analogies in textbooks on several…

This study examined how background knowledge, scientific reasoning ability, and various scaffolding forms influenced students' science knowledge and scientific inquiry achievements. The students participated in an online scientific inquiry program involving such activities as generating scientific questions and drawing evidence-based conclusions,…

This study examined how background knowledge, scientific reasoning ability, and various scaffolding forms influenced students' science knowledge and scientific inquiry achievements. The students participated in an online scientific inquiry program involving such activities as generating scientific questions and drawing evidence-based conclusions,…

Gene expression is a highly theoretical concept that requires advanced reasoning skills to comprehend. Often, students receive instruction but fail to replace prior conceptions and thus do not benefit. In order to investigate the reason for this failure, we used a directed inquiry activity that uses concrete analogies in both majors and non-majors…

The purpose of this research was to determine whether teaching argumentation to high school biology students improved their argumentation skills, informal reasoning, and genetics understanding. Using a quasi-experiment with mixed methods of data collection, five teachers participated in professional learning on argumentation and socioscientific…

Undergraduate biology programs are currently undergoing reform to involve students in biomedical research. Engaging students in more active, hands-on experiments allows students to discover scientific principles for themselves, and to develop techniques of critical thinking and problem solving. This models the world of real scientific research,…

Two selection and nine evaluation hypothesis testing tasks varying systematically with respect to causality, response alternatives, and context continuity were administered to two samples of adults (N=35; N=32). It was to determine effects of these variables and the degree to which subjects reasoned with material conditional, biconditional,…

Examines successful/unsuccessful distinctions between novices and experts in problem solving in terms of genetic knowledge, use of production rules, strategy selection, use of critical cues, use of logic, understanding of probability, and the thinking process itself. Suggests five implications for genetics instruction and provides three problems…