An understanding of falling bodies across schooling and experience based on the conceptual prevalence framework.

In this article, we describe a study conducted online with 953 participants of varying levels of education and, when applicable, science/physics teaching experience. These participants were asked to solve a cognitive task in which many different pairs of objects were presented and to identify which, if any, would touch the ground first when dropped (in atmospheric or non-atmospheric environments). Recorded accuracies and response times allowed us to conduct an analysis based on the conceptual prevalence framework, which posits that the coexistence of conceptual and/or resources can produce interference in response production.

Effects of reading contextualized physics problems among men and women: A psychophysiological approach.

To counteract declining interest in science, contextualizing course material has been suggested, despite little evidence supporting this strategy. We assessed how reading physics problems in different contexts-none, technical, or humanistic-impacted performance and implicit cognitive and affective situational interest (SI) among undergraduate men and women (n = 60). We hypothesized that contextualized problems would increase cognitive SI, boosting performance.

Persistence of the "Moving Things Are Alive" Heuristic into Adulthood: Evidence from EEG.

Although a growing number of studies indicate that simple strategies, intuitions, or cognitive shortcuts called heuristics can persistently interfere with scientific reasoning in physics and chemistry, the persistence of heuristics related to learning biology is less known. In this study, we investigate the persistence of the "moving things are alive" heuristic into adulthood with 28 undergraduate students who were asked to select between two images, one of which one represented a living thing, while their electroencephalographic signals were recorded. Results show that N2 and LPP event-related potential components, often associated with tasks requiring inhibitory control, are higher in counterintuitive trials (i.

A Systematic Review of MRI Neuroimaging for Education Research.

This study aims to disclose how the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) neuroimaging approach has been applied in education studies, and what kind of learning themes has been investigated in the reviewed MRI neuroimaging research. Based on the keywords "brain or neuroimaging or neuroscience" and "MRI or diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) or white matter or gray matter or resting-state," a total of 25 papers were selected from the subject areas "Educational Psychology" and "Education and Educational Research" from the Web of Science and Scopus from 2000 to 2019. Content analysis showed that MRI neuroimaging and learning were studied under the following three major topics and nine subtopics: cognitive function (language, creativity, music, physical activity), science education (mathematical learning, biology learning, physics learning), and brain development (parenting, personality development).

An fMRI study of scientists with a Ph.D. in physics confronted with naive ideas in science.

A central challenge in developing conceptual understanding in science is overcoming naive ideas that contradict the content of science curricula. Neuroimaging studies reveal that high school and university students activate frontal brain areas associated with inhibitory control to overcome naive ideas in science, probably because they persist despite scientific training. However, no neuroimaging study has yet explored how persistent naive ideas in science are.

Inhibitory control and the understanding of buoyancy from childhood to adulthood.

Intuitive conceptions represent common obstacles to conceptual learning in science. A growing number of studies demonstrate that when learning occurs, these intuitive conceptions are not replaced by scientific conceptions but rather coexist with them and thus need to be inhibited to prevent systematic errors. However, to date no study has demonstrated that the increasing ability to mobilize a given scientific conception is rooted in the increasing ability to inhibit the intuitive conception that interferes with it.

Linking neuroscientific research on decision making to the educational context of novice students assigned to a multiple-choice scientific task involving common misconceptions about electrical circuits.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to identify the brain-based mechanisms of uncertainty and certainty associated with answers to multiple-choice questions involving common misconceptions about electric circuits. Twenty-two scientifically novice participants (humanities and arts college students) were asked, in an fMRI study, whether or not they thought the light bulbs in images presenting electric circuits were lighted up correctly, and if they were certain or uncertain of their answers. When participants reported that they were unsure of their responses, analyses revealed significant activations in brain areas typically involved in uncertainty (anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula cortex, and superior/dorsomedial frontal cortex) and in the left middle/superior temporal lobe.