Science Insights Education Frontiers

Exploring Prospective Teachers’ Mental Models of Nephron Structure and Urine Formation through Drawing Analysis

Esra Özay Köse — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The purpose of this study was to examine prospective biology teachers’ drawings of the structure of the nephron and the stages of urine formation to determine their conceptual knowledge and to identify misconceptions based on these drawings. This research was conducted using a case study, a qualitative research design. The study group consisted of 32 prospective teachers studying in the biology teaching program at a state university in Turkey. The prospective teachers’ drawings and semi-structured interviews were used as data collection tools. The drawings were evaluated using content analysis using a researcher-developed rubric. In this rubric, correct and complete drawings were scored separately with 2 points, incomplete and incorrect drawings with 1 point, and no drawing with 0 points. These drawings were reported using frequency and percentage distributions. Interview data was analyzed using content analysis. Based on the results obtained from both the drawings and the interviews, majority of prospective teachers knew the basic structures of the nephron, but they made errors in the detailed sections (collecting duct, vascular structures). While filtration in the urine formation process was partially explained correctly, there were serious misconceptions about the reabsorption and, especially, the secretion steps.

Examining the Learning Outcomes of the 2024 5th Grade Science Curriculum According to the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy and Comparison with Artificial Intelligence

Mehmet Diyaddin Yaşar, Mehmet Yakışan, Bilal Tanı — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The purpose of this study is to compare the classifications that researchers and artificial intelligence must make in terms of the Cognitive Process Dimension and the Knowledge Dimension of the updated Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy in order to analyze the learning outcomes of the 2024 5th Grade Science Curriculum. The document analysis method, a qualitative research design, was employed in this study. 28 learning outcomes of the 2024-redesigned science curriculum for fifth grade were analyzed in this study. Two faculty members with expertise in scientific education first classified these learning outcomes independently, and then they came to a consensus to finish the classification. Artificial intelligence later categorized the learning outcomes according to both the knowledge and cognitive process dimensions. Consequently, both dimentions were used to compare the researchers’ categorization with the artificial intelligence’s classification. The results showed that the authors and artificial intelligence categorized 18 outcomes in terms of the cognitive process dimension and 22 outcomes in terms of the knowledge dimension in the same dimension. It is evident that artificial intelligence classifies learning outcomes in a manner comparable to that of the authors, but it also classifies learning outcomes that share some similar expressions across several dimensions. It is recommended that professionals in the field verify the analysis of learning outcomes in science curricula and other artificial intelligence studies.

Discourse Cohesion and Coherence and the Writing Quality of English Argumentative Essays: An Analysis Based on Coh-Metrix

Yaojing Xie — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The study aims to examine the relationship between discourse cohesion and coherence and the quality of English writing, leveraging Coh-Metrix to conduct a quantitative analysis of textual features of 386 English argumentative essays in the four dimensions of connectives, referential cohesion, latent semantic analysis, and situation models. The results reveal the presence of statistically significant correlations between a portion of the discourse cohesion and coherence indicators included in the study and the quality of the essays sampled, as well as their varied predictive effects on writing scores.

Visualizing Mental Models: Application of Drawing Analysis in Educational Studies

Xuan Chen — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Developing thorough knowledge of students’ cognitive processes, conceptual understanding, and emotional states has been critical to all educational studies and practices, and collecting effective data on these inward activities has invariably been challenging. Traditional quantitative research tools, such as scales with closed‑ended questions and standardized questionnaires, might be efficient in handling structured information, but have limitations when it comes to gathering data on students’ cognitive and emotional states, which tend to be complex and implicit. As a result, certain researchers have opted to use qualitative data collection techniques of narrative inquiry to approach students’ inner worlds, such as the focus group interview, story creation, and drama performance. Drawing analysis is also one such technique with increased popularity (Selwyn et al., 2009), with which, drawing is adopted to enable students to visualize abstract concepts, implicit attitudes, and even latent inspirations as analyzable images using visual symbols as media, providing researchers with valuable opportunity for data collection and analysis.

What Linguistic Features Predict High-Quality Writing

Mingbin Wang — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Writing is a basic component of language proficiency, acting as a vital medium for the representation of one’s thoughts, perspectives, attitudes, and more. English writing is a compulsory skill in learning and using the language, and writing proficiency is indicative of the holistic linguistic ability of the individual. Nevertheless, writing instruction has been widely perceived as a major challenge in English language education. Therefore, encouraging debates on “what makes a good English essay” is potentially beneficial for teachers and learners successfully addressing this challenge.