Background: Even infants can recognize whether patterns of motion are or are not natural, yet an acknowledged challenge for science education is to promote adequate reasoning about such patterns. Since research indicates linkage between the conceptual bases of recognition and reasoning, it seems possible that recognition can be engaged to support…

The purpose of this study was to inform about some of the current applications and literature on Augmented Reality (AR) technology in education and to present experimental data about the effectiveness of AR application in a language classroom at the elementary level in Turkey. The research design of the study was quasi-experimental. Sixty-one 5th…

The purpose of this study is to search for any difference in self-expression of Second Life residents with different levels of shyness. For this purpose, we used sixty students from two fifth-grade elementary school classes. Thirty students were assigned to the high shyness group and the rest to the low shyness group. Each group completed pre- and…

Over the past several years, the authors have been developing an instructional technology, called Teachable Agents (TA), which draws on the social metaphor of teaching to help students learn. Students teach a computer character, their "agent," by creating a concept map of nodes connected by qualitative causal links. The authors hypothesize that…

To identify the challenges that students must meet to engage in effective self-directed inquiry, a class was followed for three years, from the fourth through the sixth grades, as they engaged in a sequence of progressively more demanding inquiry activities. Students made substantial progress in understanding the objectives of inquiry, identifying…

This study examines the effects of a teaching method using 3D virtual reality simulations on achievement and attitude toward science. An experiment was conducted with fifth-grade students (N = 41) to examine the effects of 3D simulations, designed to support inquiry-based science curriculum. An ANOVA analysis revealed that the 3D group scored…