Background: Virtual laboratories are used to supplement or even replace physical laboratories in engineering education. Although these virtual laboratories allow students to learn foundational experimental skills, they do not provide the learners with the chance to develop higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). Computational thinking (CT) is an…

Background: Understanding algorithms is crucial for programming education, yet their abstract nature often challenges students. Algorithm visualisation (AV) has been proven effective in enhancing algorithmic thinking among university students. However, its efficacy for elementary school students and the optimal forms of AV tools remain unclear.…

Background: Drawing is generally regarded as a promising learning strategy and has been explored in the touchscreen setting with different drawing modes. Although both a finger and a digital pencil can help individuals complete drawing activities effortlessly on touchscreen devices, there is no guarantee that they show the same effect on learning,…

Background: Leaderboards are among the most popular gamification elements in education. Some studies have implemented leaderboards and reported their individual effects on students' learning. Despite the emergence of relevant empirical studies, most of the existing reviews have only investigated the holistic impact of gamification. No previous…

Background: Based on the embodied cognition perspective, interdisciplinary hands-on learning combines several disciplines, such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), to improve students' capacity to solve real-world problems. Despite the popularity of interdisciplinary hands-on learning, particularly the six-phase 6E model,…

Background: Learning from video lectures with peers, that is, co-viewing video lectures, is a common mode of learning across a wide range of ages and topics in the information age. Objectives: The present study tested the effects of learners' motivation on co-viewing video lectures in terms of learning performance, mental effort, and interpersonal…

Background: Emotional design of multimedia lessons involves adding features that are intended to increase learner enjoyment and promote learning--such as adding narrative, anthropomorphizing non-human elements, and using warm colours. Objective: The present study extends this work to examine the potential of Japanese animation (anime) for…

Background: Studies on the effectiveness of block-based environments continue to produce inconsistent results. A strong reason for this is that most studies compare environments that are not equivalent to each other or to the level of learners. Moreover, studies that present evidence of the effectiveness of block-based environments by comparing…

Background Study: Gamification is an effective and interactive approach to engaging students in teaching and learning. As digital technology develops, higher education institutions (HEIs) must embrace and keep pace with gamification for interactive teaching and learning approaches. Objective: The purpose of this study is to review gamification in…

Background: University students need to self-regulate but are sometimes incapable of doing so. Learning Analytics Dashboards (LADs) can support students' appraisal of study behaviour, from which goals can be set and performed. However, it is unclear how goal-setting and self-motivation within self-regulated learning elicits behaviour when using an…

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted education, necessitating alternative methods to traditional face-to-face teaching. This dramatic change, in tandem with increasing awareness of the metaverse--a virtual reality (VR) world wherein humanity might learn, work and socialise--has made a clear need for a better understanding of the…

Background: As immersive virtual reality (IVR) is increasingly being used by teachers worldwide, it becomes pressing to investigate how this technology can foster learning processes. Several authors have pointed to this need, as results on the effectiveness of IVR for learning are still inconclusive. Objectives: To address this gap, we first…

Background: As one of the gamification elements, leaderboard, especially absolute leaderboard, is widely used in educational gamification systems. However, empirical studies on the optimal use condition of the leaderboard and underlying influence mechanisms are deficient. Objectives: This study explored which difficulty was more conducive to…

Background: Even though monitoring and control enactment are key aspects of self-regulated learning (SRL), Adaptive learning technologies (ALTs) may reduce the need for learners to monitor and control their learning. Personalized dashboards are effective in supporting learners' monitoring and can potentially support control behaviour. Allowing…

Background: Learner profiles detected from digital trace data are typically triangulated with survey data to explain those profiles based on learners' internal conditions (e.g., motivation). However, survey data are often analysed with limited consideration of the interconnected nature of learners' internal conditions. Objectives: Aiming to enable…