This paper explores whether facial microexpression state (FMES) changes can be used to identify moments of conceptual conflict, one of the pathways to conceptual change. It is known that when the preconditions of conceptual conflicts are met and conceptual conflicts are detected in students, it is then possible for conceptual change to take place. There were 102 university and high school students who were involved in this research, and about 80% of the participants held erroneous preconceptions on the scientific topic chosen. The results showed that FMES changes were detected in the majority of the students who made erroneous predictions as they underwent conceptual conflict. Furthermore, the lack of FMES change was shown to indicate a lowered likelihood of conceptual change, while the presence of FMES change doubled the likelihood of conceptual change. The results confirm that FMES can be useful in determining learners’ awareness of conflicting concepts and their progress towards scientific understanding. Educational implications are discussed.

Utilizing facial recognition technology, the current study has attempted to predict the likelihood of student conceptual change with decision tree models based on the facial micro-expression states (FMES) students exhibited when they experience conceptual conflict. While conceptual change through conceptual conflicts in science education is a well-studied field, there is little research done on conceptual change through conceptual conflict in terms of students' facial expressions. As facial expressions are one of the most direct and immediate responses one can get during instruction and that facial expressions are often representations student's emotions, a link between students' FMES and learning was explored. Facial data was collected from 90 tenth graders. Only data from the 72 students who made incorrect predictions were analyzed in this study. The concept taught was the relationship between boiling point and air pressure. Through facial recognition software analysis and decision tree models, the current study found Surprised, Sad and Disgusted to be key FMES that could be used to predict student conceptual change in a conceptual conflict-based scenario.

It has been shown that facial expression states of learners are related to their learning. As part of a continuing research project, the current study delved further for a more detailed description of the relation between facial microexpression state (FMES) changes and learning in conceptual conflict-based instructions. Based on the data gathered and analyzed through the lenses of two theoretical frameworks, it was revealed that not only is there a significant relationship between FMES changes and students' macro-submicroscopic understandings, FMES was also shown to be a viable reference for differentiating students who are more likely to undergo conceptual change or able to provide, at a minimum, a scientifically accurate description of the concept taught.

Kinematics is an important but challenging area in physics. In previously published works of the current research project, it was revealed that there is a significant relationship between facial microexpression states (FMES) changes and conceptual conflictinduced conceptual change. Consequently, the current study integrated FMES into a kinematics multiple representation instructional scenario to investigate if FMES could be used to help construct students' conceptual paths, and help predict students' learning outcome. Analysis revealed that types of students' FMES (neutral, surprised, positive, and negative) were important in helping instructors predict students' learning outcomes. Findings showed that exhibiting negative FMES through all three major representation segments of the instructional process (i.e., scientific demonstration, textual instruction, and animated instruction) suggests a higher probability of conceptual change among students with sufficient background knowledge on the topic. For students with insufficient prior knowledge, the result was the opposite. Moreover, animated representation was found to be critical to the prediction of student conceptual change. In sum, the results showed FMES as a viable indicator for conceptual change in kinematics, and also reaffirmed the importance of prior knowledge and representations of scientific concepts.

Scientific models play a vital role in science learning, representing major characteristics of scientific phenomena. A useful visualization of models that matches target concepts to source objects can facilitate students’ learning of abstract and complex structures of chemical elements and compounds. This report will show the importance of visualization and innovative technology (such as augmented reality), which has the potential of supporting students’ learning of stereochemistry and interactions among molecules. Examples (including organic compounds, chemical elements of 1A and 7A in the periodic table, water polarity, and carbon nanotube) are drawn to illustrate the potential use of augmented reality in chemistry instruction.