Learning spatial layouts and navigating through them rely not simply on sight but rather on multisensory processes, including touch. Digital haptics based on ultrasounds are effective for creating and manipulating mental images of individual objects in sighted and visually impaired participants. Here, we tested if this extends to scenes and…

Many approaches to teaching Newman projections and conformational manipulation rely on lecturing using only two-dimensional representations. While molecular models are recognized as useful learning tools, students are often left to figure out how to use them during the initial learning process. The availability of basic online molecular models…

Children often learn abstract mathematics concepts with concrete manipulatives. The current study compared different ways of using specific manipulatives -- base-ten blocks -- to support children's place value knowledge. Children (N = 112, M age = 6.88 years) engaged in place value learning activities in one of four randomly assigned conditions in…

In recent decades, the application and adaptation of new technologies have gradually become invaluable in education. When the students are visually impaired, the use of these technologies becomes even more valuable. In this line, a theoretical-practical workshop on human evolution was carried out with 25 students from the Spanish National…

Abundant prior research has compared effects of physical and virtual manipulatives on students' conceptual learning. However, most prior research has been based on conceptual salience theory; that is, it has explained mode effects by the manipulative's capability to draw students' attention to conceptually relevant (visual or haptic) features.…

There are various misconceptions students have when studied quadrilateral which encourages efforts needed to overcome these misconceptions. This study aims at overcoming misconceptions by designing learning trajectories in the topic of Quadrilateral applying the Realistic Mathematics Education (RME). Design research carried out at one of junior…

This case study focused on the robotics learning process of Mark (a pseudonym), a Latino-American second grader diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Drawing on Polanyi's (Personal knowledge: towards a post-critical philosophy [Kindle version], 1958/2015) notion of "tacit knowing" and "dwelling in tools," we attempted to…

Design research was conducted to investigate the development of dynamic conceptions of area. Students used simple physical instruments, squeegees, and paint, to generate rectangular areas continuously as a sweeping motion of one length through another. Then, they dissected the resulting swept space into discrete units of measure by coordinating…

Manipulation of physical models such as tangrams and tiles is a popular approach to teaching early mathematics concepts. This pedagogical approach is extended by new computational media, where mathematical entities such as equations and vectors can be virtually manipulated. The cognitive and neural mechanisms supporting such manipulation-based…

This study explores preschool children's mathematizing in everyday block play activities. Building on an ethnomethodological and multimodal conversation analytic framework, we explore how geometry (i.e. spatiality, shape, and symmetry) is actualized in children's verbal and embodied interaction with their peers, pedagogues, and material…

Although basing instruction on learning trajectories (LTs) is often recommended, there is little direct evidence regarding the premise of a LT approach--that instruction should be presented (only) one LT level beyond a child's present level. We evaluated this hypothesis in the domain of early shape composition. One group of preschoolers, who were…

Although basing instruction on learning trajectories (LTs) is often recommended, there is little direct evidence regarding the premise of an LT approach--that instruction should be presented (only) one LT level beyond a child's present level. We evaluated this hypothesis in the domain of early shape composition. One group of preschoolers, who were…

Educational agents (including animal companions) are a kind of interface agent, which is a significant component in educational systems, and has great impacts on student learning. However, with the development of emerging technologies (e.g., tangible technology), few studies have yet investigated how tangible technology can be used to combine with…

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) 1998/1999, we examine the relationship between elementary students' (K-5) manipulative use and mathematics learning. Using a cross-sectional correlational analysis, we found no relationship between manipulative use and student mathematics "achievement". However, using a…

This study tested the proposition that the Augmented Reality Sandbox's (ARS) user-interaction from tactile sensory feedback and a realistic 3D perspective improved topographic map comprehension among novice users with reduced cognitive load compared to the same instruction and practice from a 2D topographic map. Undergraduate students were…