The current study assessed whether adding worked examples with self-explanation prompts focused on making connections between mathematical principles, procedures, and concepts of rational numbers to a curriculum focused on invented strategies improves pre-algebra students' fraction number line acuity, rational number concepts and procedures.…

To make it easier for students to learn the contents of physics and increase their motivation to learn, physics teachers need to apply different teaching strategies. With this study we aimed to examine the impact of the modified Know-Want-Learn (mKWL) strategy in physics teaching on elementary school students' metacognition. The pedagogical…

Around the world, programming education is actively promoted by such factors as economic and technical requirements. The use of a robot in programming education could help students understand computer-science concepts more easily. In this study we designed a course in programming a robot for elementary school students and investigated its…

Given growing interest in K-12 data and data science education, new approaches are needed to help students develop robust understandings of and familiarity with data. The model of the "quantified self"--in which data about one's own activities are collected and made into objects of study--provides inspiration for one such approach. By…

Many studies have shown that visual representations can enhance student understanding of STEM concepts. However, prior research suggests that visual representations alone are not necessarily effective across a broad range of students. To address this problem, we created a novel, scaffolded form of diagrammatic self-explanation in which students…

The Puppy Love problem asked fifth and sixth grade students to use their prior knowledge of measures of central tendency to determine a data set when given the mean, mode, median, and range of the set. The problem discussed in this article is a task with a higher level of cognitive demand because it requires that students (1) explore and…

Current research points to Personal Meaning Mapping (PMM) as a method useful in investigating students' prior and current science knowledge. However, studies investigating PMM as a method for exploring specific knowledge dimensions are lacking. Ensuring that students are able to access specific knowledge dimensions is important, especially in…

This study compared the effects of two brief prereading instructional practices--hands-on activities and prior knowledge activation--on sixth-graders' intrinsic motivation for reading a text and reading comprehension. Both hands-on activities and prior knowledge activation substantially improved reading comprehension relative to a control…

In this paper, we investigate the role of metacognitive postdiction skills, intrinsic motivation and prior proficiency in mathematics as Propensity factors within the opportunity-propensity (O-P) model of learning. We tested Belgian children from Grade 1 till 6 in January and June. The study revealed overlapping yet different predictors for…

Physics is generally regarded as difficult and uninteresting. The teaching of physics with the use of an appropriate teaching strategy can improve students' achievement. The aim of this research is to examine the effect of the modified Know-Want-Learn (mKWL) strategy on primary school students' achievement in physics. The Know-Want-Learn (KWL)…

Providing instruction to students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be challenging for teachers since students can have a range of unique learning needs, particularly in reading comprehension. Given that reading comprehension is a complex process requiring the use of various knowledge and skills simultaneously, many students with ASD often…

We used a design-based research model to examine a historical literacy intervention in Grade 6 classrooms. This article describes the results across 2 separate instructional cycles and for students grouped into 4 categories: (a) high-achieving students (n = 23 and n = 24 for Cycle I and Cycle II, respectively), (b) average-achieving students (n =…

This study examined the interaction effects of self-explanation and game-reward strategies on sixth graders' algebra variable learning achievement, learning attitude, and meta-cognitive awareness. A learning system was developed to support the learning activity, and a 2×2 quasi-experiment was conducted. Ninety-seven students were invited to…

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of teaching social studies with the help of CT on pupils' achievement in social studies. A history, geography and culture oriented theme was selected from the social studies curriculum for the research, Turks on the Silk Road. A multimedia CD, documentaries, PowerPoint and so on were used to teach…

Because of the Common Core State Standards there is a renewed emphasis on the importance of visual literacies in today's classrooms. Students need prior knowledge before approaching these types of texts. This article describes the results of one 6th-grade language arts class's engagement in pre-reading prior to viewing a theatrical…