The purpose of this study was to investigate how the 8th graders interpreted the equal sign in the pan balance activities they created on Scratch. Five eighth graders (4 girls and 1 boy) in Turkey participated in this study. Case study was employed as a qualitative research method. Data was gathered through the Scratch files created by the…

STEM integration holds significant promise for supporting students in making connections among ideas and ways of thinking that might otherwise remain "siloed." Nevertheless, activities that integrate disciplines can present challenges to learners. In particular, they can require students to shift epistemological framing, demands that can…

Background: Complexity models have provided a suitable framework in various domains to assess students' educational achievement. Complexity is often used as the analytical focus when regarding learning outcomes, i.e. when analyzing written tests or problem-centered interviews. Numerous studies reveal negative correlations between the complexity of…

Flipped instruction is becoming more common in the United States, particularly in mathematics classes. One of the defining characteristics of this increasingly popular instructional format is the homework teachers assign. In contrast to traditional mathematics classes in which homework consists of problem sets, homework in flipped classes often…

A small body of previous research suggests that teachers who purposefully negotiated the physical education curriculum empowered their pupils and enhanced the quality of their experience. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of one purposefully negotiated season of sport education (SE) on one teacher and his 18 male eighth grade…

Although a great deal of research exists regarding various components of the Writing-Based Practice along with best practice of writing instruction, the research that does exist only examines how writing instruction impacts writing. This research study, however, examined whether there is a potential connection between a writing immersion program,…

How does deep conceptual change occur when students play well-designed educational games? To answer this question, we present a case study in the form of a microgenetic analysis of a student's processes of knowledge construction as he played a conceptually-integrated digital game (SURGE Next) designed to support learning about Newtonian mechanics.…

Deictic linking gestures, hand and arm motions that physically embody links being communicated between two or more objects in the shared communicative environment, are explored in a cross-cultural sample of mathematics instruction. Linking gestures are specifically examined here when they occur in the context of communicative analogies designed to…

By 2020, five of the top ten in-demand jobs in the United States will be in information technology (Moeller 2012). Companies across the nation are seeking a new type of employee: one who is computer savvy and who is familiar with computer coding, data, mathematics, and augmented reality (Leber 2013). Recent reports indicate that, although students…

We examine how extended engagement in argumentation with peers leads to enhanced metalevel understanding of argumentive discourse. Following such engagement, young adolescents demonstrated enhanced understanding of counterargument and use of evidence as objectives of skilled argumentation, relative to a nonparticipating comparison group. Among the…

The aim of this thesis is to investigate and present the status of student synthesis with color coded formula writing for grade level six through twelve, and to make recommendations for educators to teach writing structure through a color coded formula system in order to increase classroom engagement and lower students' affect. The thesis first…

Two language arts teachers in a small, rural middle school set a goal of improving their reading instruction and ultimately their students' learning. The two teachers implemented Reading Workshop as their new methodology for teaching reading to all six of their 7th and 8th grade classes. Interviews and classroom observations, over the course of…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the perceptions that male at-risk sixth, seventh and eighth grade students' possess toward reading at a small rural public school district in Michigan. Male at-risk students was generally defined as students below grade level in reading based on their STAR reading assessment. Male…

Virtual K-12 schools have rapidly become a popular choice for parents and students in the last decade. However, little research has been done on the instructional practices used in virtual courses. As reflected in the central research question, the purpose of this study was to explore how teachers provided instruction for Grade 7-10 students in…