The success of the learning process greatly depends on the smooth functioning of its components. This study aims to shed light on the challenges faced by elementary school teachers when implementing teaching materials in the Indonesian language learning process. The research employs a descriptive design by utilizing quantitative methods,…

Background/purpose: Teaching practice is an essential and integral part of preservice teacher training. In this study, we investigated its role in guiding and supporting student work, and whether or not it contributed to their successful completion of a teacher education program. Materials/methods: Evaluation was conducted by preservice teachers,…

In this study, the process of design, implementation, evaluation, and redesign of a Teaching-Learning Sequence (TLS) on simple machines for students of 9-12 years old is shown according to the principles of Design Based Research. The aim is to create a TLS that satisfactorily addresses the conceptual difficulties inherent to the object of study…

In formal education, the teaching of natural sciences begins when children are about 12 years old. Teachers justify this with the difficulty and abstraction of concepts in these sciences, and they refer to the theory of child development by Piaget. However, numerous examples from everyday life, from non-formal education, analysis of the…

The following is a report on an investigation into ways of supporting teachers in converting challenging mathematics tasks into classroom lessons and supporting students in engaging with those tasks. Groups of primary and secondary teachers, respectively, were provided with documentation of ten lessons built around challenging tasks. Teachers…

Previous research has shown that both dictation and speech-to-text (STT) software can increase the quality of writing for native English speakers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of these modalities on the written composition and cognitive load of elementary school English language learners (ELLs). In a within-subjects…

Previous studies of multimedia presentations have determined the effects of the combination of text and pictures on vocabulary learning, but not those of the sound of new words. This study was intended to confirm those previous findings from the integration of mobile technologies and the approach of cognitive load. It adopted a within-subjects…

Rates of music participation are low in developed nations. This may be attributed in part to the failure of school music to engage children sufficiently to motivate them to continue learning and participating in music. We tested the "Harmonix" program of classroom music education, which is currently being designed to maximize engagement…

Given the deficiencies of readability formulae as reliable tools for measuring text readability in educational settings, this study aims to offer a new measure to improve the current methods of testing the readability levels of texts through the incorporation of the newly-developed concept of emotioncy. To this end, a group of 221 students were…

We report findings of a validation study comparing two screening tools: the Student Risk Screening Scale-Internalizing and Externalizing (SRSS-IE, an adapted version of the Student Risk Screening Scale) and the Social Skills Improvement System-Performance Screening Guide (SSiS-PSG). Participants included 458 kindergarten through fifth-grade…

This study extends an eight-country mapping exercise (McPherson & O'Neill, 2010; see "Research Studies in Music Education" issues 2010-2011) to include students' motivation to study music within the Australian context. It sought to determine whether music learners (students learning an instrument or voice), might be more motivated to…

This paper reports on a research study conducted with a group of practising primary school teachers (n = 24) in North East Scotland during 2011-2012. The teachers were all participants in a newly developed Masters course that had been designed with the aim of promoting the development of mathematical thinking in the primary classroom as part of…

Background: This article considers the impact of differential task difficulty on student engagement and progression within an Irish primary school context. Gaining and maintaining student engagement during learning tasks such as homework is a significant and understandable on-going challenge for teachers. The findings of this study hold the…