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The purpose of this study was to analyze visual attention during students' learning of Toulmin's argument pattern (TAP) and the effects of epistemic beliefs in science on the understanding of argument components. A total of 43 undergraduates were recruited through the Internet. Online questionnaires targeting beliefs about knowledge in science [Conley, A. M., Pintrich, P. R., Vekiri, I., & Harrison, D. (2004). Changes in epistemological beliefs in elementary science students. "Contemporary Educational Psychology," 29(2), 186-204] and beliefs about justification for knowing in science [Ferguson, L. E., & Bråten, I. (2013). Student profiles of knowledge and epistemic beliefs: Changes and relations to multiple-text comprehension. "Learning and Instruction," 25, 49-61] were used to assess students' epistemic beliefs. Identification tests for the understanding of TAP were performed before and after an argument reading treatment designed as a self-learning activity. The whole reading process was recorded by the eye-tracking system. To explore the effect of the reading treatment, participants were divided into a progress (P) group and a no-progress (NP) group based on their learning gains. The results indicated that students' epistemic beliefs in science and their learning strategies would affect their TAP learning performance. The analyses of visual attention distribution indicated that integration information indicated by inter-scanning counts would enhance students' learning performance. In addition, the LSA results suggested that understanding of data is of primary importance when learning TAP. Suggestions on how to guide students in learning TAP are provided based on the findings.

Although AR technology seems to be promising for helping students learn complicated and abstract concepts, whether the positive effects of this new technology can be applied to the learning of three-dimensional geometric concepts, and what factors might mediate its effectiveness are questions worth further investigation. This study used the eye-tracking method to examine middle school students' learning of three-dimensional geometric concepts with AR-based instruction in comparison with a group of students who learned via paper-based instruction. Motivation and conceptual achievements were assessed using the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS) questionnaire and Geometry Achievement Test (GAT), respectively. The results showed that while AR learners performed the same as the paper-based learners in the post concept test, the two groups differed significantly in terms of their motivation orientations and visual attention patterns. AR students were more satisfied with and engaged more in the corresponding instruction. To explore in-depth the effectiveness of the AR system, the AR participants were divided into improved and unimproved learners. The former displayed higher confidence in and perceived greater relevance of the AR instruction. Their attention to and engagement in the simple geometric concepts was higher. Correlation and regression analyses indicated that the performance of paper-based learners was affected by their visual attention, while the performance of the AR learners was predicted by their beliefs in the relevance of the material to the learning goals. Noticeably, for the AR learners, their motivation was significantly associated with their visual attention.

In a sample of 455 Taiwanese upper-secondary school students, latent variable structural equation modeling was used to test hypothesized relationships between beliefs about knowledge in science, beliefs about justification for knowing in science, and justification of knowledge claims concerning science encountered on the Internet. Results indicated that participants displayed adaptive beliefs in the tentative and evolving nature of scientific knowledge while their beliefs about justification for knowing in science seemed somewhat less adaptive. Further, their self-reports of Internet-specific justification of knowledge claims suggested that they did not strongly believe that science information posted on the Internet needed to be carefully evaluated. The structural equation modeling indicated that beliefs in the tentative and evolving nature of scientific knowledge had direct positive relationships with beliefs in justification by research-based authority and justification by multiple sources in science, which, in turn, mediated the relationships between beliefs in tentative and evolving knowledge and adaptive beliefs about Internet-specific justification of knowledge claims. Beliefs in the unambiguous, certain nature of scientific knowledge had a direct positive relationship with beliefs in justification by school-based authority (i.e., the science teacher and the science textbook), but beliefs in justification by school-based authority were not related to Internet-specific justification beliefs. We highlight the unique contributions of this study to the field of epistemic belief and science education research, and its theoretical and educational implications are discussed.

Insect growth and development are precisely controlled by hormone homeostasis. The prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) receptor, Torso, is a member of the receptor tyrosine kinase family in insects. Activation of Torso by PTTH triggers biosynthesis and release of the steroid hormone in the prothoracic gland (PG). Although numbers of genes functioning in steroid hormone synthesis and metabolism have been identified in insects, the PTTH transduction pathway via its receptor Torso is poorly understood. In the current study, we describe a loss‐of‐function analysis of Torso in the silkworm, Bombyx mori, by targeted gene disruption using the transgenic CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/RNA‐guided Cas9 nucleases) system. Depletion of B. mori Torso (BmTorso) did not eventually affect larval ecdysis and metamorphosis processes. Instead, BmTorso deficiency resulted in significant extension of developing time during larval and pupal stages with increased pupa and cocoon sizes. The ecdysteriod titers in the hemolymph of BmTorso mutants sharpy declined. Transcriptional levels of genes involved in ecdysone biosynthesis and ecdysteroid signaling pathways were significantly reduced in BmTorso‐deficient animals. Additionally, RNA‐Seq analysis revealed that genes involved in the longevity pathway and protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum pathway were affected after BmTorso deletion. These results indicate that Torso is critical for maintaining steroid hormone homeostasis in insects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a sample of 455 Taiwanese upper‐secondary school students, latent variable structural equation modeling was used to test hypothesized relationships between beliefs about knowledge in science, beliefs about justification for knowing in science, and justification of knowledge claims concerning science encountered on the Internet. Results indicated that participants displayed adaptive beliefs in the tentative and evolving nature of scientific knowledge while their beliefs about justification for knowing in science seemed somewhat less adaptive. Further, their self‐reports of Internet‐specific justification of knowledge claims suggested that they did not strongly believe that science information posted on the Internet needed to be carefully evaluated. The structural equation modeling indicated that beliefs in the tentative and evolving nature of scientific knowledge had direct positive relationships with beliefs in justification by research‐based authority and justification by multiple sources in science, which, in turn, mediated the relationships between beliefs in tentative and evolving knowledge and adaptive beliefs about Internet‐specific justification of knowledge claims. Beliefs in the unambiguous, certain nature of scientific knowledge had a direct positive relationship with beliefs in justification by school‐based authority (i.e., the science teacher and the science textbook), but beliefs in justification by school‐based authority were not related to Internet‐specific justification beliefs. We highlight the unique contributions of this study to the field of epistemic belief and science education research, and its theoretical and educational implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]