This study aimed to explore primary school teachers' perception of using Interactive Mathematics (IM) software in teaching and learning activities using qualitative interpretive phenomenology. It involved seven teachers non-randomly selected from the lower and upper primary with different gender and teaching experiences who participated in a…

Since many decisions in politics, economics, and social sciences are based on statistics, statistical literacy is a key component for an active citizen. Statistical skills and statistical reasoning can already be enhanced in primary school. Therefore, not only in Germany, statistics is an element of the primary-school curriculum, which usually…

This paper explores Computational Thinking (CT) through the experiences and interactions of sixth-grade students as they were engaging in a science lesson utilizing robotics. This robotics unit institutes the shifting from traditional to engaging hands-on activities coupled with CT skills that are exciting, intriguing, and inviting to students.…

This research study explored robotics as the catalyst for computational thinking (CT) by sixth-grade students as they are engaged in a science lesson. The interactions, understandings, and applications are discussed, along with the participants' connections and implementations of CT concepts (decomposition, abstraction, pattern recognition, and…

This study examines the effects of including interactive graphic organizers into a whole-class PowerPoint lesson as an instructional approach intended to improve student engagement and generative learning in schools. A software application was developed and integrated into PowerPoint that makes it possible for the instructor to fill in empty…

Higher education institutions are charged with creating one million more STEM professionals over the next decade, a 34% increase in undergraduate STEM degrees annually (PCAST 2012). Examining why college STEM courses manifest high attrition rates, interdependencies emerge that begin in early childhood education. Those of us in higher education…

Exploring the Solar System in the elementary school curriculum has traditionally involved activities, such as building scale models, to help students visualize the vastness of space and the relative size of the planets and their orbits. Today, numerous websites provide a wealth of information about the sun and the planets, combining text, photos,…

The increasing presence of multiple Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the classroom does not guarantee an improvement of the learning experiences of students, unless it is also accompanied by pedagogically effective orchestration of those technologies. In order to help teachers in this endeavour, it can be useful to understand…

The purpose of this interpretive case study was to explore--through a close analysis of one class project--students' use of audio signs and the teacher's scaffolding of the use of audio signs. Two research questions guided this study: (a) In what ways did the fifth-grade students use audio signs, specifically transitions sounds, when constructing…

Since the dawn of civilization, pictorial representations and symbols have been used to communicate simple statistics. Efficient and effective, they are still used today in the form of pictures and graphs to record and present data. Who can tie their shoes? How many calories are in your favorite food? Make data and graphs relevant and interesting…

Among the practical applications of statistics is the collection of data from manufacturing processes. Often collected in the form of a time series, data collected from a series of measurements show the variation in those measurements, such as mass of a product manufactured. Limits are set for quality control and if these are exceeded then a…

This article reports methodological aspects of a research study on the reasoning of teachers. The aim is to describe and evaluate the use of the stimulated recall method (STR) when information and communication technologies (ICTs) are involved in terms of educational settings and therefore in the research setting as well. First, we introduce the…

In this study the authors have looked at the use of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in Mexico from a linguistic anthropological perspective. Twenty lessons were video recorded to compare the use of IWBs and traditional boards in different areas of the curriculum in primary schools. Data were analysed as a set of sequenced communicative events in…

The challenge for today's elementary teachers is not "whether" but rather "how" to use computers to effectively teach students essential skills and concepts. One exciting way of meeting this challenge is to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS), computer software that captures, manipulates, analyzes, and displays data on specialized layered…