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Using three different tasks with the same underlying mechanistic explanation, we analyzed responses from students who had completed a transformed cell and molecular biology course to determine what conceptual resources they use and how they connect those resources. Our findings show that, given a task with appropriate scaffolding, half of the students constructed mechanistic explanations. We also found that students rarely integrated ideas from both biology and chemistry, but when they did, they consistently constructed mechanistic explanations. Task design significantly influenced the conceptual resources students used and the frequency of mechanistic explanations. These findings highlight the need for careful instructional and curricular design to support cross-disciplinary learning and mechanistic reasoning in STEM education.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1187\/cbe.25-07-0149","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T19:50:26Z","timestamp":1788205826000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Supporting Development of Mechanistic Reasoning Across Chemistry and Biology"],"prefix":"10.1187","volume":"25","author":[{"given":"Caleb M.","family":"Trujillo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 49445"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jenna","family":"Kesh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Neuroscience, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 49445"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Melanie M.","family":"Cooper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 49445"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joelyn","family":"de Lima","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 49445"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tammy M.","family":"Long","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 49445"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Keenan","family":"Noyes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 49445"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christina V.","family":"Schwarz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Teacher Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 49445"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jon R.","family":"Stoltzfus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 49445"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1076","reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"e_1_3_2_2_1","article-title":"When molecules come to life \u2013 using augmented reality for studying protein structure in Cell Biology class","volume":"36","author":"Agrawal S.","year":"2022","unstructured":"Agrawal, S. 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