This qualitative study aimed to examine: (1) the manner in which kindergarten children and first graders make sense of the term "area" regarding optimization problems; (2) how this manner is manifested in their decision-making and "STEAM" (science, technology, engineering, art and math) skills; and (3) how kindergarten children…

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…

Science, technology and engineering functional literacy should be developed purposely in the school system -- like any other competence, it does not develop spontaneously. For this purpose, a didactic model, the Metacognitive Model for Developing Science, Technology and Engineering Literacy (McM_T&E), was developed. Apart from acquiring…

Technology and engineering functional literacy should be intentionally developed in the school system -- like any other competence, it does not develop spontaneously. For this purpose, a didactic model, the Metacognitive model for developing technology and engineering literacy (McM_T&E), was developed, implemented and evaluated. The results of…

This dissertation is a compilation of three separate works representing a wide range of issues related to pre-college engineering. Each work addresses multiple levels of concern for educators from national policy to specific classroom intervention. Although presenting different styles of writing--due to different journals requirements--and various…

Hopscotch, basketball, or hide-and-seek? Children have many choices at recess, and while making these choices they must consider and make trade-offs. The way they make these decisions is not that different from the thought processes engineers use when making design trade-offs. Engineers have to make trade-offs because a design that meets all…

These proceedings contain the papers of the 16th International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA 2019), held during November 7-9, 2019, which has been organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS) and co-organised by University Degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy.…

The universities and faculties which educate teachers of mathematics for teaching pupils/students of any age group from pre-school age to higher education carefully monitor and compare valuable results of this research, detect the areas in which the mathematical achievements of pupils should be improved at the national level and propose the ways…