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This research is conducted to identify the scientific conceptual cognition of ecosystem and the corresponding alternative conceptions by lower-secondary school students in Taiwan. Concept mapping, interviewing, and two-tier diagnostic test cannot make explicit reasoning pathways that students may use. Therefore, its purpose is to develop, validate, and utilize a three-tier multiple-choice diagnostic instrument for the ecosystem concept (TDIEC). The instrument can assist teachers in analyzing their students' reasoning. This does not only distinguish alternative conceptions from lack of knowledge but also determines the percentages of false positives and false negatives. One hundred and six students were tested with this instrument in Taiwan. The data analysis reveals common alternative conceptions shared by students, indicating that 35.59% of the samples had inaccurate conceptualizations of ecosystems. Common alternative conceptions of ecosystems include the following: (1) Only biological components constitute an ecosystem; (2) The Venus flytrap and pitcher plants are preys; (3) Competition is synonymous to predation; (4) Ecological balance refers to the sustainable circulation of energy and matter in the environment; and (5) The simpler the species, the more stable the ecosystem. It concludes with the interpretation of the results, suggestions for the application of the TDIEC, and correct alternative conceptions in Ecology classes.

Collaborative learning helps to construct a learning situation in which students solve problems together, and their learning effectiveness is promoted. However, collaborative learning often has the problem of unequal participation of learners. Therefore, this study combines the collaborative learning mode of the virtual environment of digital games and applies it to an elementary school art course, in the hope of solving the problems in collaborative learning. Using a quasi-experimental research design, students were divided into a virtual group and a real group to compare whether the different styles of collaborative learning would affect their learning. Participants in this study were 83 fourth-grade students from an elementary school. This study found that the learning effectiveness and motivation of the students in the virtual group were significantly higher than those of the students in the real group. The reason is that the virtual group learned in an active virtual environment in which the students' shared solutions with their partners, and could even manipulate their virtual avatar to give peer guidance, triggering learning motivation to promote inter-group interaction. However, students in the real group were worried about making the classroom dirty, and had to invest more effort. They gave priority to their favorite specific colors, and completed the mixed-color questions independently, with less collaboration and communication, making it difficult for them to correctly answer the questions that their peers solved independently during the learning process. It is suggested that virtual avatars can be introduced in actual teaching to improve student interaction and attention.

Gender and prior knowledge may affect students' performance and motivation when simulations and games are used for learning. Accommodations should be made for students of different genders and with different levels of prior knowledge. A simulation digital game about the food chain concept geared for elementary school students was developed for this study. Participants were 114 fifth-grade students in Taiwan. A quantitative research method was used to examine the impact of gender and prior knowledge on students' learning performance and motivation. In-depth interviews were conducted to explore the reasons for these impacts. The results showed that the improvement in the learning performance of females was significantly better than that of males, especially in the low prior knowledge group. The reason may be that the males paid more attention to the progress and competition of the game missions, and tended to ignore content. Students with low prior knowledge were more likely to be affected by their environment and peers, which hindered attention. The constant clicking in the game distracted the attention of females with high prior knowledge.