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This study aimed to investigate grade-7 students' negotiation during the engineering design process regarding the students' status of argumentation training. The participants were 33 students studying at a public urban middle school in Turkey. They worked in small groups on four engineering design tasks about electricity and light. Data were collected through small group audio recordings, student worksheets, and the observation. The data were analyzed by using content analysis. The results indicated that negotiation patterns were similar across all groups. However, differences were found between the group that received argumentation training and the one that did not receive in terms of proposing ideas for material design, using justifications when in agreement with others, counter proposing and acquiring information for better planning and altering the design, and critiquing for design advantages and disadvantages.

Exposing children to STEM education from an early age increases their curiosity and interest in STEM careers. Thanks to STEM education, children learn by working like little scientists and putting forward their own scientific products. Based on this approach, the aim of this research is to raise awareness among preschool children about the concept of light that they encounter in daily life. The study was carried out with 20 children aged 60-72 months in a public school in the spring term of 2022-2023 in Turkey under the name of "STEM Activity in Preschool Education: Let's Discover the Light!". The STEM activity plan was designed by the researchers in accordance with the 5E model under the guidance of the preschool education curriculum and Next Generation Science Standards. During the activity, the steps of the 5E model were followed, allowing children to design their projects to discover light, make observations, and achieve learning objectives related to STEM education in the preschool period. In this context, the present activity is effective for preschool children to receive STEM education and reach the determined international standards.

We analyze here how pre-service teachers explicate their views about the wave-particle duality of photons and what role it plays in their arguments supporting the quantum nature of light. The data for the analysis is provided by 12 written reports about the double-slit experiment with feeble light. The analysis is based on constructing semantic networks corresponding to pre-service teachers' written texts. Contingency-like associative correlation between word-pairs is used to differentiate between word-pairs, where associations of two terms or words is systematic. Such associations indicate connections, which are significant for key term vocabularies in construction of inferences and arguments. Based on that information of the key vocabulary we then construct the structure of pre-service teachers' argument for the nature of the photon and its wave-particle duality, in the form of directed argument graphs (DAGs). The results show that argument structures in four to six out of 12 cases meet the goals set for pre-service teacher education. In these cases, experimental aspects and wave-particle duality play an important role in the pre-service teachers' argument and its structure.

The purpose of this study is to explore a theoretical idea in relation to a body of empirical material from a reading activity involving a picturebook on shadow. The theoretical idea, sprung from variation theory, entails children's discernment through synchronic simultaneity as a key to their ability to imagine. To explore this idea, an analysis has been conducted on how 5-year-olds, in words and actions, express themselves in a reading activity involving "The Black Rabbit" (Leathers, 2014) in regard to discerning and imagining about shadow as a light phenomenon. Vygotsky describes children's previous experiences as a key to their ability to imagine. The results of this study imply that children's discernment in the moment, with synchronic simultaneity, appears to be another key that unlocks their ability to imagine explicit depictions in a picturebook. The results also show that when children's discernment with both synchronic and diachronic simultaneity (i.e., discernment in the moment and before the moment) is missing, their ability to imagine remains untapped, as none of the keys to their imagination, which might unlock their ability to imagine implicit depictions in a picturebook, are used.

The aim of this study was to examine which topic- and learning-related knowledge and motivational beliefs predict the use of specific deep-level learning strategies during an independent learning task. Participants included 335 Estonian fourth- and sixth-grade students who were asked to read about light processes and seasonal changes. The study was completed electronically. Topic-related knowledge was assessed via an open question about seasonal changes, and learning-related knowledge was assessed via scenario-based tasks. Expectancies, interest, and utility values related to learning astronomy and using deep-level learning strategies were assessed via questions based on the Situated Expectancy-Value Theory. Deep-level learning strategies (using drawings in addition to reading and self-testing) were assessed while completing the reading task. Among topic-related variables, prior knowledge and utility value--but not interest or expectancy in learning astronomy--were related to using deep-level learning strategies. Among learning-related variables, interest and utility value of effective learning--but not metacognitive knowledge of learning strategies or expectancy in using deep-level learning strategies--were related to using deep-level learning strategies. This study confirms that it is not enough to examine students' knowledge and skills in using learning strategies with general or hypothetical questions, instead, it is of crucial importance to study students in real learning situations.

The aim of this research was to study the aspects and conditions of physical space which favor or hinder the experience of university mentoring according to the perception of participants. During fieldwork, an ethnographic approach was used, based on direct and indirect observation reflected in research diaries, qualitative interviews, and an ad hoc questionnaire. A sample of 30 individuals was selected, including students and professor-mentors who were users of three spaces with different characteristics designed for individual and group mentoring. The data were collected analysed by identifying verbatim statements obtained from interviews and from accounts from the researchers' journals that were then coded and grouped into thematic categories. The results focus on the importance of factors such as natural light, comfort, accessibility, furnishings, and location; conditions such as privacy and silence; availability of materials and resources; and Internet connectivity. The participants preferred the closed space, with the open space in second place and the semi-open space third. As for other required characteristics, the preferred spaces are multi-functional and versatile, equipped with ICT tools and furniture that facilitates collaborative work and mentorship and close communication between mentor and student, and that provide necessary privacy and silence. Any spaces specifically created for mentorship should thus meet these specific criteria.

Background: Virtual reality (VR) offers much potential for learning, but it challenges learners' orientation. Objectives: This paper investigates whether it is possible to use light or movement cues to facilitate orientation in a search task in a desktop-VR environment so that participants can better attend to the learning content presented simultaneously. Methods: In two pre-registered online experiments, we investigated the effects of cueing (light and movement) on search time, learning, and several evaluation variables. Participants were asked to find tools in a virtual workshop, while information about the respective tool was narrated. Experiment 1 (N = 60) used a within-subject design, that is, the objects were alternately highlighted by light, movement or not. For Experiment 2 (N = 159) the narration was substantially shortened, and a between-subject design was used. Cognitive load and presence were measured additionally. Results and conclusions: In Experiment 1, only the movement cue decreased search time, indicating automatic guidance of learners' attention. There was no effect of cueing on learning, which may be due to the average search time being substantially shorter than the narration, leaving sufficient time to attend to the narration exclusively. In Experiment 2 search times were significantly faster for both cueing methods, but only the light cue resulted in better learning outcomes, which could be explained by the slightly lower presence in the movement cue condition. Implications: Results imply that it is important to develop cues that automatically guide attention without reducing presence.

The digital era's technological transformation has a wide range of beneficial effects on the science learning process. Game-based learning (GBL) is the use of game design ideas to learn about some topic while pupils are striving to do their best in the process. This study was carried out with the help of Educaplay apps ("Identify Me Froggy" and "Do You Know Who I Am"), an online programme that allows teachers to develop free educational games. This survey research discussed the use of Educaplay apps to increase Year 4 pupils' understanding and interest towards Topic Properties of Light. The respondents consist of 25 Year 4 pupils from a primary school in the Malacca district. Data was collected through a pre-test, post-test, and questionnaire. The results of the t-test indicated that the mean for the post-test (Mean = 22.40, SD = 3.23) was significantly greater than the mean for the pretest (Mean = 14.20, SD = 5.25). The p-value obtained was >0.001 indicating that there was a significant difference in pupils' understanding after using Educaplay apps. The results of the questionnaire also show that Educaplay apps do improve pupils' understanding and interest in Topic Properties of Light. Thus, the collaboration of the Malaysia Education Ministry, State Education Department, District Education Office, and school is important for Educaplay apps to be implemented smoothly.

Previous work has highlighted the difficulties students have when explaining wave behavior. We present an investigation of chemistry students' understanding of the double-slit experiment, where students were asked to explain a series of PhET simulations illustrating a single continuous light source, single-slit diffraction, and double-slit interference. We observed a variation in student reasoning and students were categorized into groups based on their ability to explain and generate a mechanism for the double-slit experiment. Some students struggled to explain the features of waves which impacted their reasoning about interference and caused them to rely on intuition to generate explanations. Other students were able to productively incorporate their previous knowledge about wave behavior, with their observations from the simulations, to build a robust mechanism for wave interference. However, students generally exhibited a limited understanding of interference, and specifically attending to the key features of waves during instruction can promote more sophisticated reasoning about this phenomenon.

Nowadays, many education programmes claim to evolve according to present and future skills needed for sustainable development, and one of these skills is inventive problem-solving. Systematic-inventive problem solving (SIPS) is a systematic approach to problem-solving derived from engineering, technology, science, mathematics, and general problem-solving principles. This study presents findings from a SIPS-based methodology to enhance inventive problem-solving in school science for the Light topic. SIPS is an approach for innovative solutions with early judgment by exploring the problem's world or surroundings. This study was conducted with 78 seventh-grade pupils in Istanbul, Türkiye. Mixed methods were applied to determine the contribution of SIPS to developing their inventive problem-solving and to get their opinions about SIPS. The data were collected through the pre-post Inventive Problem-Test (IP-T), documentation of pupils' activities, and interviews. Statistical and descriptive analyses revealed that using inventive problem-solving tasks fostered pupils' inventive-problem solving skills. Also, using SIPS helped pupils solve real-life problems for which they might need information on different topics such as heat-temperature, electrostatics, or pressure. The study suggests that SIPS makes it possible to increase 7th grade pupils' interest in science, more comprehensive and focused thinking, and their realisation that what they learn at school is useful in everyday life.

This study aimed to develop a two-tier light concept test to identify student concept understanding of light. The development of the test was carried out through the content validity, construct validity, and reliability test stages using the Item Response Theory (IRT). The sample consisted of 81 students during the second semester at five universities in Indonesia. The results showed that the instrument met the content validity and construct validity criteria as well as reliability. Efforts are needed to improve concepts in light material.

This article analyzes a Participatory Action Research (PAR) Project focused on improving public safety and community lighting in one Latinx immigrant community in California as a case example to better understand the possibilities for university-community-government partnerships. The article explores residents' motivations for their sustained participation in the project, the relationships and power dynamics that led to a $100,000 commitment from the city government to fund the recommendations of the PAR collective, and the social contexts that allowed community residents to position themselves as community leaders as the PAR project progressed over the 2021-2022 academic year. This case example illustrates how including key stakeholders from powerful community institutions in the PAR process not only created opportunities for dialogue and social change that would not have occurred without this collaboration, but also provided critical spaces for the women to develop their stance as political actors in relationship to people in power.

Ray tracing is a computer graphics technique used to produce realistic visuals by physically simulating the behavior of light. Although this technique can be described straightforwardly, fully comprehending it might be challenging. It is typically taught in the classroom using the 2-D formats, such as paper or a blackboard. We propose using immersive environments for incrementing the understanding of ray tracing. We focus on improving the knowledge of the technique in experienced users, particularly Master of Computer Science students minoring in a computer-graphics-related area. We argue that exploring the ray tracing process in an immersive visualization environment can further improve the understanding of ray tracing acquired using conventional means. With that objective, this study starts by presenting RayTracerVR, a virtual reality prototype tool for learning the mechanisms of ray tracing. This tool can be used to visually explore and interact with the different aspects of the technique. It allows users to observe the progression of the rays throughout the sequential stages of the ray tracing process and analyze its corresponding computer pseudocode. The study includes user evaluation where RayTracerVR is employed to assess improvements in ray tracing understanding. The prototype's usability is also assessed. The findings indicate that using the ray tracing immersive learning environment results in a supplemental increase in understanding in users who have previously learned ray tracing using conventional means.

The field of geometrical optics features a broad knowledge base concerning conceptual learning difficulties and student conceptions. However, in contrast to other areas of physics, no widely used standard test instrument exists to assess middle school students' conceptual knowledge of geometrical optics. This is even more true for other areas of the electromagnetic spectrum. For this reason, a concept test was developed for an intervention study to collect preconceptions about visible light as well as preconceptions about infrared radiation in the subject area of reflection and transmission. A pilot study with 108 middle school students preceded final revisions and implementation in the main study of 820 learners aged 12-16. The measurement model is presented for the developed concept test with the subscales 'preconceptions and knowledge about reflection and transmission in visible optics', 'preconceptions and knowledge about reflection and transmission in infrared optics' and 'applied knowledge on reflection and transmission in visible and infrared optics'. The results show that the concept test validly captures the development of preconceptions and knowledge regarding specific aspects of reflection and transmission of the part of the electromagnetic spectrum from 3 µm to 380 nm.

Social semiotic discussions about the role played by representations in effective teaching and learning in areas such as physics have led to theoretical proposals that have a strong common thread: in order to acquire an appropriate understanding of a particular object of learning, access to the disciplinary relevance aspects in the representations used calls for the attainment of representational competence across a particular "critical constellation of systematically used semiotic resources (which are referred to as" modes, "see more on this later)." However, an affirming empirical investigation into the relationship between a particular object of learning and different representational formulations, particularly with large numbers of students, is missing in the literature, especially in the context of university-level physics education. To start to address, this research shortfall the positioning for this article is that such studies need to embrace the complexities of student thinking and application of knowledge. To achieve this, both factor and network analyses were used. Even though both approaches are grounded in different frameworks, for the task at hand, both approaches are useful for analyzing clustering dynamics within the responses of a large number of participants. Both also facilitate an exploration of how such clusters may relate to the semiotic resource formulation of a representation. The data were obtained from a questionnaire given to 1,368 students drawn from 12 universities across 7 countries. The questionnaire deals with the refraction of light in introductory-level physics and involves asking students to give their best prediction of the relative visual positioning of images and objects in different semiotically constituted situations. The results of both approaches revealed no one-to-one relationship between a particular representational formulation and a particular cluster of student responses. The factor analysis used correct answer responses to reveal clusters that brought to the fore three different complexity levels in relation to representation formulation. The network analysis used all responses (correct and incorrect) to reveal three structural patterns. What is evident from the results of both analyses is that they confirm two broad conclusions that have emerged from social semiotic explorations dealing with representations in relation to attempting to optimize teaching and learning. The first, which is linked to a facilitating-awareness perspective, is that any given disciplinary visual representation can be expected to evoke a dispersed set of knowledge structures, which is referred to as their "relevance structure." Thus, the network analysis results can be seen as presenting a unique starting point for studies aiming to identify such "relevance structure." The second broad conclusion is that disciplinary visual representation can and often does contain more "disciplinary-relevant aspects" than what may be directly visible in a given representation. These are referred to as the "appresent" aspects that need to become part of the total awareness needed by someone to constitute an intended meaning. The results of the factor analysis can then also be seen to be a way of capturing "all" the disciplinary-relevant aspects (both present and appresent). Educational implications are discussed.

Children (N = 103, 4-9 years, 59 females, 84% White, c. 2019) completed visual processing, visual feature integration (color, luminance, motion), and visual search tasks. Contrast sensitivity and feature search improved with age similarly for luminance and color-defined targets. Incidental feature integration improved more with age for color-motion than luminance-motion. Individual differences in feature search ([beta] = 0.11) and incidental feature integration ([beta] = 0.06) mediated age-related changes in conjunction visual search, an index of visual selective attention. These findings suggest that visual selective attention is best conceptualized as a series of developmental trajectories, within an individual, that vary by an object's defining features. These data have implications for design of educational and interventional strategies intended to maximize attention for learning and memory.

Storytelling has the potential to successfully convey knowledge, understanding and experiences in an unintimidating and exciting way to experts as well as non-experts in almost all fields. Storytelling's utility as an information transmission medium makes it an attractive choice for use in classrooms where knowledge sharing, and the construction of understandings are required. The aim in this mixed method case study was to reveal the impact of storytelling, when used as an instructional tool, on students' learning experience when exposed to a unit of work entitled "Light". Observational checklists and students' journal entries were used to: (1) assess students' levels of participation during classroom learning, and (2) solicit students' views about the effectiveness of storytelling to facilitate science learning. The findings revealed high levels of student participation and an overall expression of enjoyment of learning among students when science was presented to them using this method. Students indicated that storytelling was effective in facilitating their understanding of science content and suggested that it should be used more often in science classrooms.

The aim of the study is to investigate the level of understanding of light-related concepts of teacher candidates who took the "Basic Science in Primary School" course in the classroom teaching undergraduate program. This research is a descriptive study. The study group consists of 65 teacher candidates, 51 female, and 14 male studying in the first year of the classroom teaching undergraduate program at a state university. In the study, an opinion form containing five open-ended questions prepared by the researcher was used as the data collection tool. The grouped answers of the teacher candidates, and their background knowledge were calculated and separately transferred to the relevant tables for each question. For each table, the inferences, and comments about the grouped expressions of the participant teacher candidates have been provided. In addition, interviews were conducted with six randomly selected participants. It has been revealed that the pre-service teachers' scientific knowledge about the concepts related to the light is not at the desired level. Based on the findings of the study, some suggestions were made.

Inquiry-based learning has been widely applied in the classroom. Different inquiry learning models may have different orders of performing tasks and discussing. In this study, the Discuss-Do (D-DO) inquiry model and the Do-Discuss (DO-D) inquiry model were applied in the science learning of two groups of fifth-grade students. Group 1 (n = 41) used the Discuss-Do model whereas Group 2 (n = 38) used the DoDiscuss model. Interest measurements and the Light Reflection Test were administered to the two groups prior to and following the experiment to investigate the effects of the two kinds of inquiry model on students' individual and situational interest, and concept achievement through learning the unit of Light Reflection in a science course. Results showed a significant difference in situational interest and concept achievement between the two groups. However, there was no significant difference in the individual interest of the two groups. Findings suggested that the adoption of the Do-Discuss model is more conducive to learners' development of situational interest and concept achievement, which has implications for exploring task order adjustments for inquiry-based learning, as well as in education for science instructors.

The purpose of this study is to determine teacher candidates' opinions on the Light and QRCode Assisted Brain Lobes and their Tasks model, which is a unique design that differentiates itself from other studies in the literature. The study employed the basic qualitative research approach. Teacher candidates studying at the Faculty of Education of a state university in Ankara in the fall semester 2021-2022 were included in the study. The study group consisted of 50 teacher candidates studying in the Biology Education and Science Education. The Material Assessment form was the data collection tool for the study. The first part of the form, contains a material evaluation rubric. The second part of the form had semi-structured interview questions aimed at getting more detailed views from participants about the model. From the material evaluation rubric, a material evaluation score was obtained. A five-stage thematic analysis method was used in the analysis of qualitative data obtained through open-ended questions. As a result, the model can be considered a teaching material that can be used effectively in the teaching of the relevant subject. It was determined that teacher candidates expressed many positive opinions about the model designed to teach the brain lobes. [The page numbers on the PDF are incorrect. The correct range is p263-283.]

Teaching and learning quantum mechanics is one of the most demanding educational and conceptual challenges, in particular in secondary schools where students do not possess an adequate mathematical background to effectively support the description of quantum behaviour. Educational research shows that traditional approaches, generally based on historical and narrative perspectives, are only partially effective. The reason is that they do not address in depth those basic quantum concepts that radically question the fundamentals of classical physics. A research-based educational program has been proposed to two final-year classes of an Italian scientific high school. In order to build the main concepts of quantum mechanics and their formal basic representation via real and simulated experiments, the program uses the light polarization as a context. A quantum game was then integrated in the educational program, to support students' learning. Their conceptual paths, monitored by means of tutorials and questionnaires, show significant student learning especially on the concept of state and on appropriating the formalism meaning, whereas students more frequently referred to the geometrical vector representation instead of the algebraic-analytic formula. The quantum game has emerged to support intuition and operative experience in distinguishing the foundational concepts of superposition and entanglement.

The Arduino microcontroller is currently one of the favorite tools of makers, and many teachers have used it in teaching or experiments. In addition, light-emitting diode (LED) smart lighting is the worldwide trend in lighting. There are many teaching demonstrations or applications of color addition using LEDs. Furthermore, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a popular emerging technology today, and the sensor is the most important component in the perception layer of the IoT, which makes teaching, research, or application related to sensors very important. Therefore, this study shows that an Arduino microcontroller can be used as an experimental setup for the teaching of light color mixing, light intensity detection, and ambient temperature sensing via a tricolor (red, green, and blue [RGB]) LED and two types of sensors: photoresistors and thermistors. The setup has intuitive, concrete, and multifunctional features, and is expandable, which is different from the typical experimental setup designed for only a single specific purpose. It is also suitable for students learning about light color mixing and sensor-related physics course experiments or demonstrations, whether they be in high school or college.

Einstein's derivation of special relativity theory (SRT), based on hypothetical reasoning and thought experiments, is regarded as a prime example of physics theory development. In secondary education, the introduction of SRT could provide a great opportunity for students to engage in physics theorizing, but this opportunity is largely being missed in current teaching practice. One reason could be that secondary students lack some knowledge of electromagnetism that was central to Einstein's argument. Therefore, we conducted an educational reconstruction to develop a teaching approach that would not rely on advanced understanding of electromagnetism, yet retain the modes of reasoning that were characteristic of Einstein's approach. In our reconstruction, we identified the light postulate, which is notoriously difficult for students to grasp, as a central concept. We developed a teaching and learning sequence in which students perform relativistic thought experiments and try different interpretations of the light postulate. Through these activities, students experienced how the new concepts meet the requirements for a good theory. Experimental evaluation of the teaching and learning sequence indicates that this can be a fruitful approach to introduce SRT to secondary students.

The inquiry-based learning model can facilitate students' understanding of scientific concepts. Scientific epistemological beliefs (SEBs) are related to students' beliefs about the nature of the process of knowledge in science education. However, whether the "prediction-observation-explanation" (POE) inquiry-based learning model can facilitate fifth graders' concept achievement and SEBs in science education has not been extensively studied. This study selected the unit of Light Refraction to explore the effects of POE learning on fifth graders' science concept achievement and SEBs. The Light Refraction Test and Scientific Epistemological Beliefs measurement were applied to the two groups prior to and following the experiment. The experimental group (N=86) participated in POE inquiry-based learning, whereas the control group (N=88) participated without POE inquiry-based learning. The results revealed a significant difference between the two groups, with the experimental group learners performing better than the control group in the concept achievement. In addition, the results showed better positive effects of POE on experimental group learners' SEBs in the scales of Source and Certainty. Findings suggested that learners achieved better concept achievements and SEBs with the approach of POE inquiry-based learning, which pointed to certain implications for inquiry-based teaching, as well as in education of future science instructors.

We experience (perceive, act upon and react to, and conceptualize) dynamical processes in nature as agentive. Expressed differently, we experience events as resulting from activities and interactions of "Forces of Nature" (such as wind, light, heat, fluids, electricity, substances, and motion) that are conceived of as powerful agents acting and interacting in physical environments. An example would be sunlight creating heat in the Earth's surface layers, and this heat using the atmosphere as a heat engine whose output are the winds on our planet. In the physics of dynamical systems, these forces are characterized in terms of intensive and extensive quantities (i.e., electric potential and electric charge in the case of electricity). The aspect of power is formalized with the help of a generalized energy principle and the rules relating power/energy to intensive and extensive physical quantities. Concrete processes depend upon properties of physical materials (in and through which forces are active) such as (thermal, electrical, etc.) capacity or conductivity. In this paper, we demonstrate how we can create "Embodied Simulations" and "Forces-of-Nature Theater" performances, where children act as forces such as water, heat, electricity, and motion. The embodied logic of the physical play teaches children about the logic of our explanations of physical processes.

The study determines the conceptual understanding levels of primary school students on the concept of light according to the Rasch Model with a Four-tier Light Conceptual Understanding Test (LCUT). The participants were 355 (164 girls and 191 boys) primary school students studying at a public school in Izmir city center. In the study, the Rasch Model, which is included in the Latent Trait Theory, was used. Also, the data regarding the answers given and the level of confidence in the responses were associated with the Rasch analysis of LCUT. The results of Rasch analysis showed that LCUT was in full harmony in the context of infit, outfit, and point measurement correlation statistics, and is a valid and reliable measurement tool for conceptual understanding. Moreover, these results explained that the students' average conceptual understanding ability regarding the Light unit was above the average item difficulty.

Game-based learning in science education is an effective method to enhance students' motivation, active participation, and conceptual understanding of the scientific knowledge. This study aimed to encourage teachers to develop and use game-based activities related to the concepts of light and sound and to present students' views about the games developed in the study. The game-based activities were implemented in the 2016-2017 academic year with 27 sixth-grade students. The study reports on the design and implementation processes of 6 games about the light and sound unit. The students evaluated the games by answering 6 open-ended questions. Students' responses were analyzed using the content analysis method, and the findings are shared. The findings showed that the game-based activities facilitated students' learning and created an enjoyable learning environment. Time management is an aspect that should be paid attention to during the games. Teachers are recommended to include games in their lessons.

Laboratory activity is closely related and yet is essential in the process of science teaching-learning. The hands-on laboratory experiment is the one normally used in school. Particularly with the state of online schooling, it is quite challenging to perform a hands-on laboratory activity. The combination of inquiry-based learning with virtual lab activity can be an alternative to developing a more alluring yet meaningful learning process within online learning. This research aims to analyze virtual lab activity with inquiry-based learning on students' scientific literacy in light and optics topics. Participants were taken from junior high school students in the 8th-grade in Bandung, Indonesia. It includes 40 students with 14 males and 26 females with ages range 13-14 years old who have not yet studied light and optics. A pre-experimental research method with a one-group pre- the post-test design was used. The finding indicates that students' scientific literacy was significantly increased with a medium category (N-Gain score 0.441). Based on this research, virtual-lab activity with inquiry-based learning could be considered an alternative to conducting a meaningful online learning activity, especially in science education.

This article reports the development and validation of a test instrument to assess secondary school students' declarative quantum optics knowledge. With that, we respond to modern developments from physics education research: Numerous researchers propose quantum optics-based introductory courses in quantum physics, focusing on experiments with heralded photons. Our test instrument's development is based on test development standards from the literature, and we follow a contemporary conception of validity. We present results from three studies to test various assumptions that, taken together, justify a valid test score interpretation, and we provide a psychometric characterization of the instrument. The instrument is shown to enable a reliable ([alpha] = 0.78) and valid survey of declarative knowledge of quantum optics focusing on experiments with heralded photons with three empirically separable subscales.

This study aims to determine pre-service teachers' conceptual understanding of black-body radiation. Designed as a qualitative study, it employed a case study design, which is one of the descriptive research methods. The study group consists of 18 pre-service physics teachers enrolled as seniors. An opinion form and a concept map were used as data collection tools. In other words, results were intended to be comparatively examined by using two different qualitative data collection methods. Pre-service teachers' answers were analysed with the help of answer sculptures. At the end of the study, it was determined that while pre-service teachers generally have the correct conceptual structure, they still have some specific gaps in knowledge. It was seen that pre-service teachers have problems with understanding, especially the Wien law and electromagnetic radiation taking place in black-body radiation.

The purposes of this research were 1) to develop student's scientific reasoning ability on the concept of light and image at a criterion of 70 using inquiry-based learning 5E with prediction observation and explanation strategy and 2) to compare students' scientific learning achievement on the concept of light and image after using inquiry-based learning 5E with prediction observation and explanation strategy. The target groups were 22 students of grade 9 selected by a purposive sampling method. The research instruments were lesson plans, achievement test, scientific reasoning ability test, scientific reasoning ability observation form, and scientific reasoning ability interview form the statistics used in data analysis were mean, percentage, and t-test. The results showed that 1) the scientific reasoning ability in cycles 1, 2, and 3. There were 6, 13, and 21 students who passed their criteria of 70% of the full score in each learning cycle, respectively. 2) Students' learning achievement after learning with the learning management was significantly higher than the establishment at a criterion of 70 at a statistical level of 0.05.

This study was conducted to examine the achievements of students in the concepts of light and shadow measured in different assessment formats according to the learning style and gender. In this study, correlational survey model was used. The sample consisted of 10th grade (16 years) high school students (n=815) from different types of six high schools (public general and vocational) in Turkey who were selected by using stratified random sampling method. The students' achievement was determined using three different assessment formats, which contains open-ended test, multiple-choice test and structured communication grid test. The results show that there were significant differences between the students' achievement in light and shadow concepts when assessed by different assessment formats. While the achievement of boys was statistically higher in open-ended tests, girls were more successful in the structured communication grid tests. In addition, the test scores obtained by students in different test formats vary significantly according to their learning styles. For example, the mean scores of converger and accommodator-style students in open-ended tests were significantly different from the diverger-style students.

K-12 students need to become familiar with engineering because 21st-century careers integrate engineering practices across all science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. While the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emphasize learning real science and engineering practices, further work is needed to authenticate engineering for K-12 education. The NGSS are presented in a way that merges a single general practice with a core disciplinary idea and cross-cutting concept. Based on this framing and underlying epistemology, NGSS engineering practices are often implemented as overgeneralized, isolated, and largely context-neutral. Yet, in the STEM workplace, practices are rarely done in isolation from one another. Research is needed to better understand the integrated use of NGSS practices in STEM workplaces in order to make these practices more visible and accessible for use in K-12 classrooms. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 entry-level employees and managers in STEM-intensive workplaces. Using emergent and a priori coding, we identified how NGSS practices and contextual features are situated and connected in the STEM workplace. Our findings suggest that by adding rich contextual features, practices become more interconnected and reflective of authentic engineering in the STEM workplace. This process will enable educators to interpret K-12 engineering standards in an authentic way that supports deep engagement in learning engineering.

Background: We examine the development of youth sociopolitical consciousness and agency in an eighth-grade science classroom as students of color engage in critical speculative design activities, exploring the multi-scalar, racial realities and possibilities of the science and engineering of pervasive digital technologies--specifically involving the entanglement of lightwaves and melanin in computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Methods: Through case studies of two girls of color (ES and GS), we analyze the youths' learning pathways across three instructional phases: threading practices (learners' sociopolitical interpretation); weaving practices (learners' coordination of multiple ways of knowing and being in relation to their interpretation); and patternmaking practices (learners' visions of more just patterns, practices, and politics through speculative design). Findings: Our analyses show how youth use their felt, cultural, and community knowledges, as well as their developing scientific knowledge of physics, to confront and analyze manifestations of racial bias in technologies. The findings highlight the significance of teachers' pedagogical support and providing opportunities for meaningful transdisciplinary science investigations and speculative designing for more just and thriving futures. Contribution: The Critical Speculative Design Pedagogy framework developed suggests how such activities in the classroom can cultivate equitable, expansive science learning that is consequential to youth and their communities.

Demonstration interviews with 27 high school students (18-19 years old) were conducted in Zagreb, Croatia, using several standard experiments on interference and diffraction of light. Students were asked for their predictions, observations, and explanations of the experiments. In this process, many student difficulties were identified, both regarding their understanding of interference and diffraction of light, but also regarding their skills of systematic observation and description of experimental patterns. The observed difficulties were analyzed in the resource-based model, suggesting the activation of some p prims, as well as other cognitive resources in the process of students' attempts to predict, describe, and explain the interference and diffraction patterns.

Visual images are widely used in science textbooks to facilitate the understanding of abstract concept of light. This study aims to compare and analyze elementary school textbooks from Korea, the United States, and Japan, focusing on how visual images are utilized to effectively convey light-related content. The findings reveal that all three countries' textbooks predominantly employ photographs as visual representations, primarily serving the purpose of providing data. Through a social semiotic perspective analysis, it was observed that science textbooks commonly utilize realistic images with metaphorical functions, presented at eye level angles, with intermediate distances, and frontal angles. Furthermore, the visual images employed various colors and background expressions to create a sense of familiarity for students. These findings suggest that the composition of visual images in science textbooks was designed to facilitate an easy understanding of light-related concepts.

This article illustrates a learning sequence from the Interdisciplinary Mathematics and Science (IMS) Learning project, connecting science and mathematics learning in the primary school. Exploring light and its properties involved a series of investigations conducted in Grades 4 and 5 across three classes in two schools in regional Victoria. The teachers implemented an inquiry-based pedagogical model to guide students' spatial reasoning by exploring angle, symmetry, rotation, 2D diagrams and 3D models in an investigation of light reflection, using multiple representations. Students developed ideas from a "maze challenge" used in their design of a periscope.

Conceptual knowledge is a crucial tool for students to understand scientific phenomena. Knowledge about the structure and function of mental concepts potentially helps science educators to foster the acquisition of this tool. Specifically, the coherence of students' mental concepts is an intensely discussed issue within the related conceptual change discourse. While former discussions focused on the question of whether these conceptions are coherent or not, recent approaches describe them as dynamic systems behaving more or less coherently in different situations. In this contribution, we captured this dynamic behavior of individual concepts by means of network analysis. Transcribed video data of 16 pairs of students working on four subsequent experiments on energy were transformed into weighted networks, which in turn were characterized by standardized coherence parameters. These coherence parameters and more basic network parameters were correlated with students' pre-post scores of a multiple-choice test on the energy concept. We found that the coherence parameter is significantly related to the students' test scores. Even more intense relations are indicated if networks are calculated solely based on conceptual key terms. Implications as well as methodological constraints of this approach are discussed.

The changing nature of education has forced educators to rethink the role of classrooms in student learning. Prior research has shown that the environmental and structural design of education centers impact student learning. With a dozen variables to deal with, classroom designers are faced with the daunting task of selecting one plan from the thousands that are possible. This paper demonstrates how tradespace exploration (TSE), an analytical methodology used by NASA and the DoD to design spacecraft and other complex systems, can be applied to the design of classrooms. To demonstrate the TSE methodology, a predictive model was built based on historical data collected by prior researchers on third and fifth grader test performance and data along 86 descriptive variables that they used to characterize the school and classrooms. An analysis of main effects using a multi-way ANOVA allowed the larger data set to be reduced to 8 composite independent variables that are predictive of student tests scores. This model was then used to generate thousands of possible school and classroom design permutations and predict the resulting student test scores. This allowed the authors to identify the Pareto frontier of designs that yield the greatest benefits for a given investment. The case study described in this paper demonstrates how this approach could be applied to enable decision-makers to identify a more effective allocation of resources or determine when changes in total investment are likely to have a significant impact on desired performance.

The excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation, natural or artificial, is a public health concern. For this reason, it is important that, from an early age, children and teenagers gain awareness of this problem. By not being visible to the human eye, ultraviolet radiation is an abstract concept and difficult to understand, although its short-term effects may be visible. In this project, we proposed the use of the Arduino platform to measure and verify the effect of various sunblocks, making it possible to materialize the concept of UV radiation. Thus, it was the aim of this project to study the influence of the Arduino platform use, associated with an ultraviolet radiation sensor, in the understanding of this type of radiation and in the awareness to the artificial sources of UV radiation used in the daily life of many people. This project was carried out with a group of students from the ninth grade, from a school in Porto, Portugal. The methodology used allowed the students to develop interdisciplinary skills, namely in the areas of natural sciences, programming, and mathematics, providing them with useful lifelong tools.

In this study, the visual assessment of building facades, which define the boundaries of avenues, were based on the color factor with the aim of revealing its effect on the aesthetic perception of a city. Being part of the façade coloring work implemented in the Province of Antalya, the facades along the Avenues of Gulluk, Yuzuncuyil and Mevlana were selected as the sample for this study. In the first stage of this study, a survey assessment form was developed with reference to similar studies. For the online survey, random participants were asked to evaluate the former and current appearance photos showing the coloring work on the selected avenues based on five selected criteria (Like-Dislike, Boring-Exciting, Compatible-Incompatible, Disturbing-Relaxing, Appealing-Unappealing). Research suggest that coloring work did not have a significantly positive effect neither on the aesthetic value of the city nor on people's degree of liking of the avenues. However, in scope of given criteria, different relations do emerge when the degree of liking scores for the former and current appearance is evaluated. There is a strong relation between Compatible-Incompatible criteria and degree of liking before the coloring work however, the relation between Boring-Exciting criteria and degree of liking after the coloring work is stronger. Accordingly, it is possible to say that the standard colors used formerly on the avenue facades were liked because they were compatible however, the applied colors are liked because they are found more exciting.

The aim of this study was to determine the ability of physics teacher candidates' to read a concept map previously prepared by the researchers about a light topic and then convert the concept map into the appropriate text. The study was carried out in the form of case study method in a Turkish University in the Black Sea Region with 32 physics teacher candidates in the 2016-2017 academic years. To collect data, the concept map about light was given to the physics teacher candidates and they were asked to convert this concept map into meaningful text. The meaningful texts that teacher candidates tried to transform according to the concept map were evaluated according to a reference text. The reference text was prepared by experts. When the findings obtained from the study were examined in general, it was concluded that 78.123% of these physics teacher candidates could read the concept map related to light subjects and concepts at medium level. According to the results of this study, it is recommended that studies related to reading concept maps should be studied for different subjects and concepts.

Physically-based rendering (PBR) concept is widely use nowadays in 3D rendering works, this concepts interested in the ray of light for describes the interaction of light and materials. Understanding the principles of PBR can be easier to adjust shader parameters to be realistic, react correctly to changes in lighting condition and also giving the same results even in different 3D rendering software. In Shading lighting and rendering (SLR) subject which PBR concepts become important concept instead the 'old style rendering' it was found that students are unable to clearly understand concepts of PBR. According to the problem, in this research bringing mobile augmented reality (AR) to be a media for demonstrate PBR concepts for students. The sample were 35 students from Department of Animation and Digital Media, Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University. The results found that students understand the PBR concepts and can adjust the PBR shader paremeters to be realistic assess from students pre-test, post-test scores and students homework. The mobile AR application media were usable for students and suitable to be a learning media in 3D animation assess form students' response.

Physics is directly related to various professions since it is a fundamental science. Opticianry is one of such physics related professions. In this study, it was aimed to determine the conceptual understanding levels of opticians related to the concepts of light and optics which are directly related to their professions. In the study, which was conducted via mixed method, the participants were determined with the convenient sampling method. A total of 203 opticians attended the study. Data were collected with the help of Light and Optics Conceptual Evaluation Test in addition to the Open-Ended Questions and Concept Cartoons selected from the literature. As a result of the study, it was reached that the conceptual understanding levels of opticians were low with several misconceptions and insufficiencies related to the light and optics concepts. In the light of the findings, the importance of physics education for opticianry was implied.