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In this study, to facilitate the integration of environmental education in science curricula and achieve a more sustainable future, the relationships among scientific epistemic views, decision-making style, and recycling intention based on the theory of planned behavior were investigated. Three instruments (i.e. SEVs, DMS, and RI) were implemented on a sample of 515 Taiwanese high school students and revealed sufficient validity and reliability by employing exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Structural equation modeling analysis showed that students’ scientific epistemic views do not directly link to recycling intention, whereas SEVs predict decision-making styles and decision-making styles predict recycling intention. The research findings suggest that teachers might consider encouraging students to develop the ability to think deeply and holistically by adopting the scientific approach in environmental education. This research also provided important information for educators to deliver environmental education effectively under the environment of Confucian culture. Limitations of the study and future research recommendations are discussed.

Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) has become a key multivariate statistical modeling technique that educational researchers frequently use. This paper reviews the uses of PLS-SEM in 16 major e-learning journals, and provides guidelines for improving the use of PLS-SEM as well as recommendations for future applications in e-learning research. A total of 53 articles using PLS-SEM published in January 2009?August 2019 are reviewed. We assess these published applications in terms of the following key criteria: reasons for using PLS-SEM, model characteristics, sample characteristics, model evaluations and reporting. Our results reveal that small sample size and nonnormal data are the first two major reasons for using PLS-SEM. Moreover, we have identified how to extend the applications of PLS-SEM in the e-learning research field.

In the field of science education, laboratory learning environment has gained renewed interest in the recent decade. This study aimed to investigate the relationships among students’ conceptions of science laboratory learning, perceptions of the science laboratory learning environment, and their academic self-efficacy in science learning by adopting the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. A total of 513 senior high school students (262 females) in Taiwan were invited to participate in this survey study. Three instruments were adapted and implemented to investigate the aim of the study (i.e. the conceptions of science laboratory learning questionnaire, the science laboratory environment inventory, and the academic self-efficacy in science learning questionnaire). The results indicated that the students’ conceptions of science laboratory learning made a significant contribution to their perceptions of the science laboratory environment, which consequently fostered their science learning self-efficacy. More specifically, students with conceptions of science laboratory learning as reviewing their prior learning profiles tended to highlight the “student cohesiveness,” “integration,” and “material environment” aspects of the laboratory environment. Moreover, students who held personal ideas of science laboratory learning as acquiring manipulative skills tended to perceive actual science laboratory environments as much more open-ended and to attain advanced academic science learning self-efficacy. In addition, those students who viewed laboratory learning as achieving in-depth understanding, and who perceived that laboratory activities are guided by clear rules, were prone to express a stronger sense of academic self-efficacy. Based on the results, practical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Background: Researchers have indicated that assessment practices and methods should support learners’ construction of meaningful understanding of knowledge. Understanding students’ conceptions of assessment will enable us to construct more realistic, valid and fair assessments. Learners’ conceptualization of assessment would be imperative to serve as an essential reference to evaluate their learning progress.Purpose: This study evaluated and compared the Singaporean and Taiwanese middle school students’ conceptions of science assessment. Within-country gender comparisons were also explored.Sample: 424 Taiwanese and 333 Singaporean eighth graders were invited for a cross-country comparison.Design and methods: The participants completed a questionnaire named Conceptions of Science Assessment.Results: The findings showed that the summative assessment dominates in the Taiwanese classrooms, while formative and summative assessment are usually perceived in Singaporean classrooms. The Singaporean student...

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an online contextualized test for assessing students’ understanding of epistemic knowledge of science. In addition, how students’ understanding of epistemic knowledge of science interacts with learner factors, including time spent on science learning, interest, self-efficacy, and gender, was also explored. The participants were 489 senior high school students (244 males and 245 females) from eight different schools in Taiwan. Based on the result of an extensive literature review, we first identified six factors of epistemic knowledge of science, such as status of scientific knowledge, the nature of scientific enterprise, measurement in science, and so on. An online test was then created for assessing students’ understanding of the epistemic knowledge of science. Also, a learner-factor survey was developed by adopting previous PISA survey items to measure the abovementioned learner factors. The results of this study show that; (1) by factor analysis, the six factors of epistemic knowledge of science could be grouped into two dimensions which reflect the nature of scientific knowledge and knowing in science, respectively; (2) there was a gender difference in the participants’ understanding of the epistemic knowledge of science; and (3) students’ interest in science learning and the time spent on science learning were positively correlated to their understanding of the epistemic knowledge of science.

The purpose of this study is to compare the conceptions of learning biology (COLB) of Taiwanese and Turkish high school students. In addition, it was investigated whether there is a gender difference in students’ COLB in both countries. The COLB questionnaire was implemented in both countries and students’ COLB were identified. A total of 562 Taiwanese and 546 Turkish high school students participated. The results indicated that the COLB questionnaire was valid and reliable for assessing Taiwanese and Turkish high school students’ COLB. And, a significant difference was found between Taiwanese and Turkish students’ mean scores in four learning conceptions as memorising, calculating and practicing, increasing one’s knowledge and seeing in a new way. Moreover, differences were found between the mean scores of Taiwanese female and male students in memorising and understanding; however, there were no mean differences between Turkish female and male students in COLB factors. In addition, analyses of cr...

In the area of science education research, studies have attempted to investigate conceptions of learning, approaches to learning, and self-efficacy, mainly focusing on science in general or on specific subjects such as biology, physics, and chemistry. However, few empirical studies have probed students’ earth science learning. This study aimed to explore the relationships among undergraduates’ conceptions of, approaches to, and self-efficacy for learning earth science by adopting the structural equation modeling technique. A total of 268 Taiwanese undergraduates (144 females) participated in this study. Three instruments were modified to assess the students’ conceptions of, approaches to, and self-efficacy for learning earth science. The results indicated that students’ conceptions of learning made a significant contribution to their approaches to learning, which were consequently correlated with their learning self-efficacy. More specifically, students with stronger agreement that learning earth ...

This study investigates the relationships between students' perceptions and their online behaviors after they were engaged in collaborative knowledge building activities for social studies. One hundred and seventy seven Singapore primary three and primary four students participated in this study and the results show that when interpreting students' collaborative knowledge building, their perceptions about knowledge play an important role. Students who possess a questioning attitude about the knowledge from text books or experts are likely to search for more available audio-visual resources.