This research explores learning in science museums through the most common activity in a science museum--interaction with exhibits. The goal of this study was to characterize the learning behaviors exhibited by students as they engage with interactive exhibits in order to draw insight regarding the design of the exhibits. In order to do so, we…

This article looks at the development of mathematisation in a primary school mathematics teacher's classroom. The teacher was a volunteer in a professional development programme that promoted didactisation principles for mathematics teacher development. At the heart of didactisation lies the principle of mathematisation. Mathematisation as a…

The Teaching for Transformative Experiences in Science (TTES) model was designed to facilitate the application of academic learning in students' everyday experiences. In the current study, we describe a 2-year design-based intervention that aimed to further develop and evaluate the TTES model. In the first year, a teacher implemented the TTES…

Student construction of models is a strong focus of current research and practice in science education. In order to study in detail the interactions between students' model generation and evaluation and their development of explanatory ideas to account for magnetic phenomena, a multi-session teaching experiment was conducted with a small number of…

This article describes an arts- and spatial thinking skill--integrated inquiry project applied to life science concepts from the Next Generation Science Standards for fourth grade students that focuses on two unifying or crosscutting themes: (1) structure (or "form") and function and (2) use of models. Students made observations and…

This paper describes the 5E+I/A inquiry model and reports a case study of one curricular enactment by a US fifth-grade classroom. A literature review establishes the model's conceptual adequacy with respect to longstanding research related to both the 5E inquiry model and multiple, incremental innovations of it. As a collective line of research,…

The purpose of the Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study (BTES) was to identify teaching activities and classroom conditions that foster student learning in elementary schools. The study focused on instruction in reading and mathematics at grades two and five. During the multi-year series of substudies comprising BTES, a variety of issues were…

The literature in science education highlights the potentially significant role of outside-school factors such as parents, cultural contexts and role models in students' formation of science attitudes and aspirations, and their attainment in science classes. In this paper, building on and linking Bourdieu's key concepts of habitus, cultural and…

This paper is based on two studies conducted in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2008 and in Kampala, Uganda, in 2014. The basic research question addressed in both studies was: "What are the experiences in the lives of upper elementary-aged children that foster an intrinsic motivation to seek information?" The secondary question was:…

Students may excel in computation, but their ability to apply their skills will suffer if they do not understand the math vocabulary used in instructions and story problems. This action research project examines two methods for strengthening students' ability to communicate mathematically: (1) Journal writing and peer discussion; and (2) The…

In a classroom, obtaining active, whole-focused, and engaging learning results from a design is often difficult. In this study, we propose a self-observation model that employs an instinctive interface for classroom active learning. Students can communicate with virtual avatars in the vertical screen and can react naturally according to the…

Digital games offer an appealing environment for assessing student proficiencies, including skills and misconceptions in a diagnostic setting. This paper proposes a dynamic Bayesian network modeling approach for observations of student performance from an educational video game. A Bayesian approach to model construction, calibration, and use in…

Through a non-experimental descriptive and comparative mixed-methods approach, this study investigated the experiences of sixth grade earth science students with groundwater physical models through an extended SE learning cycle format. The data collection was based on a series of quantitative and qualitative research tools intended to investigate…

Teaching young students to think critically has always been important, however, as the United States transitions to a national set of learning standards which emphasizes higher-order thinking, it becomes essential. In this quasi-experimental study we evaluate the effects of exposure to the Journeys and Destinations (J&D) unit from the William…

This study explored how elementary educators implement iPad devices as instructional tools to enhance their language arts instruction. The study used a phenomenological qualitative design with a single-subject case study design coupled with an embedded rubric component. The researcher conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews, classroom…