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  • Science is Part of the Big Picture

    Book Chapter |

    By becoming active learners themselves, teachers recognize that science is part of the “big picture,” and they are able to link newly constructed ideas about active learning to other pedagogical initiatives. It is…

  • How Do College Students Best Learn Science?

    Book Chapter |

    This paper is based on William Leonard’s “How Do College Students Learn Science? Chapter 1: Effective Teaching and Course Management for University and College Science Teachers,” edited by E. Siebert, M. Caprio, and C.…

  • Baby Mice

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ basic ideas about inheritance of genetic traits. The probe is designed to reveal the variety of ideas students have about how traits, such as fur color, are…

  • Boiling Time and Temperature

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the characteristic property of boiling point. The probe is used to find out whether students recognize that the temperature of a boiling liquid…

  • Sugar Water

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about dissolving. The probe is designed to find out what students think happens to sugar when it dissolves in water.

  • Chicken Eggs

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about food, transformation of matter, growth and development, conservation of mass, and systems. The concepts underlying this probe are complex. It is…

  • Adaptation

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about biological adaptation. The probe is designed to find out if students think animals intentionally adapt to a change in their environment.

  • Salt Crystals

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about crystalline solids.The probe is specifically designed to determine how students think atoms are arranged and move in a crystalline lattice.

  • Apple on the Ground

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about gravity. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that gravitational force is a pull by the Earth, toward the Earth, regardless…

  • The Swinging Pendulum

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about pendulums. The probe is specifically designed to find out what variables students think affect the time it takes a pendulum to swing back and forth…

  • Antibiotics

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about infectious diseases. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that antibiotics only work on bacterial infections, not viral…

  • Atoms and Cells

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the smallest parts of living and nonliving things. The probe is designed to determine how students distinguish between cells and atoms in living…

  • Apple Tree

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the plant structure where photosynthesis takes place. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that food is made within the leaf…

  • Seeds in a Bag

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of the assessment probe, in this chapter, is to elicit children's ideas about the needs of seeds. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize that when seeds are planted in soil, they need to…

  • Birthday Candles

    Book Chapter |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about how light travels. The probe is designed to find out if students know that light travels outward from its source, regardless of distance, until it…

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