In organic chemistry, spatial reasoning is critical for reasoning about spatial relationships in three dimensions and representing spatial information in diagrams. Despite its importance, little is known about the underlying cognitive components of spatial reasoning and the strategies that students employ to solve spatial problems in organic chemistry. Although prior research suggests that individual differences in visual–spatial ability (assumed to measure facility in visual–spatial imagery) predict success on spatial problems in organic chemistry and explain sex differences in organic chemistry achievement, it is unclear whether students rely on visual–spatial imagery while engaged in chemistry problem solving. In the present study, we investigated which strategies students use to solve spatial chemistry problems and the relationships between strategy choice, spatial ability, and sex. To that end, we explored the use of alternative problem-solving strategies, such as algorithms and heuristics, that may obviate the impact of visual–spatial imagery on problem solving. The results indicated that students employ multiple strategies that include heuristics and the construction of external diagrams rather than relying exclusively on imagistic reasoning. Importantly, we observed students’ choice of strategy to be independent of visual–spatial ability, and we observed that women employ strategies differently than men after instruction in the domain.

Poor spatial ability can limit success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Many initiatives aim to increase STEM achievement and degree attainment through selective recruitment of high-spatial students or targeted training to improve spatial ability. The current study examines an altemative approach to increasing achievement that includes problem-solving strategy training. In this study, we examined how training in multiple problem-solving strategies affects science achievement and its relations to sex and spatial ability. We compared 3 interventions that trained either mental imagery strategies, analytic problem-solving strategies, or their combination in the context of a college chemistry course. As predicted, students adopted more analytic strategies after analytic training, and women used significantly more analytic strategies than men after instruction. Training in the combined use of mental imagery and analytic strategies eliminated sex differences in achievement, but training in a single type of strategy resulted in a male achievement advantage. Our work demonstrates that achievement is dependent not only on spatial ability but also on strategy choice, and that strategy training offers a viable route to improving the performance of female students.

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In the present study, I analyze ethnographic data from a year‐long study of two Advanced Placement (AP) Biology classes that enrolled students with diverse racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. Specifically, I consider participation, positioning, and learning of newcomer Korean students in the focal classes. Building on the notion of figured worlds, I define the AP Biology classes as a localized figured world in which students position and are positioned within its interpretive frameworks and analyze how newcomer Koreans are positioned in relation to each other. The analysis illustrates that students were relationally positioned, primarily based on their biology achievement and discursive participation, among other interpretive frameworks. In this localized figured world, newcomer Korean students were positioned at a lower status because they did not participate in the classroom discourses, as well as their lack of speech and certain forms of speech indicated their failure to adequately learn English and U.S. school practices. Based on the findings, I discuss practices and ideologies about science, classroom participation, and transnational students that are prevalent in broader contexts and reflected in the localized figured world. In light of the national and international contexts in which increasingly more people migrate across national borders, I draw implications for science education in racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse classrooms. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 52: 347–370, 2015