This study involved the development and application of a two-tier diagnostic test measuring students' understanding of flowering plant growth and development. The instrument development procedure had three general steps: defining the content boundaries of the test, collecting information on students' misconceptions, and instrument development. Misconception data were collected from interviews and multiple-choice questions with open response answers. The data were used to develop 13 two-tier multiple-choice items. The conceptual knowledge examined was flowering plant life cycles, reproduction, precondition of germination, plant nutrition, and mechanism for growth and development. The diagnostic instrument was administered to 477 high school students. The correlation coefficient of test-retest was 0.75. Difficulty indices ranged from 0.24 to 0.82, and discrimination indices ranged from 0.32 to 0.65. Results of the Flowering Plant Growth and Development Diagnostic Test suggested that students did not acquire a satisfactory understanding of plant growth and development concepts. Nineteen misconceptions were identified through analysis of the items that could inform biology instruction and resource.

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This study aimed to examine whether the relationships among family resources, school climate, learning participation, science attitude, and science achievement are different between primary school students and junior high school students within one educational system. The subjects included 4,181 Grade 4 students and 5,074 Grade 8 students who participated in TIMSS 2003 in Taiwan. Using structural equation modeling, the results showed that family resources had significant positive effects for both groups of learners. Furthermore, a context effect for the structural relationship between school climate, learning participation, and science achievement was revealed. In the primary school context, Grade 4 students who perceived positive school climate participated in school activities more actively, and had better science performance. However, in the secondary school context, learning participation had a negative impact and led to lower science achievement. The implications about this result in relation to the characteristics of the two educational contexts in Taiwan were further discussed.

This study has resulted in an elementary science methods course that facilitates the identification and description of the changes in students_ conceptions and understanding of inquiry teaching, and the cultural influences, reflections, and situational factors influencing these changes. Written responses to open-ended questions, reflective journals, teaching plans, and videotapes of lessons were used as data sources. Results of the written responses and the lesson plans indicated that an elementary science methods course with social-constructivist and reflective assessment strategies appears to enhance methods students_ conceptual changes regarding inquiry teaching. The significance of this study lies in the provision of insights into three apparent explanations: impacts of cultural myths, conditions for critical reflection, and unit design as performance of understanding. By identifying the elementary methods students_ reflections and situations, the elementary science methods course provides knowledge for teacher educators about how such students expressed their conceptions and understanding of inquiry teaching and, therefore, potentially provides indications about appropriate teaching strategies for science methods courses.