The modern Einsteinian conception of space, time, matter and radiation represents a radical paradigm shift compared with the traditional Newtonian physics that underpins most primary and secondary school science. It is increasingly recognised that school education should encompass this modern paradigm to allow a seamless progression of learning…

Arrows are recognized as efficient visual elements in conveying location, direction, connection, and process because the shape is thought to have an immediate, common sense impact on viewers. However, the results of our prior quantitative study did not support the assumed effects of arrows in reading energy pyramid diagrams. The current study…

The concept of mathematical problem solving is an important mathematical process in mathematics curricula of education systems worldwide. These math curricula demand that learners are exposed to authentic problems that foster successful problem solving. To attain this very important goal, there must be mathematics teachers well versed in content…

This study investigated the attributes of 297 instances of student mathematical thinking during whole-class interactions that were identified as having the potential to foster learners' understanding of important mathematical ideas (MOSTs). Attributes included the form of the thinking (e.g., question vs. declarative statement), whether the…

Learners often insufficiently monitor their comprehension, which results in overconfident judgments of learning and underachievement. In the 3 present experiments, we investigated whether insufficient comprehension monitoring is due in part to the fact that learners are not sufficiently aware of the benefit of comprehension monitoring and thus…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the type of exploratory strategy and level of prior knowledge on middle school students' performance and motivation in learning chemical formulas via a 3D role-playing game (RPG). Two types of exploratory strategies-RPG exploratory with worked-example and RPG exploratory without…

The main goal of this study was to explore whether the use of multimedia in genetics instruction contributes more to students' knowledge and comprehension than other instructional modes. We were also concerned with the influence of different instructional modes on the retention of knowledge and comprehension. In a quasi-experimental design, four…

This study examined the impact of teachers' characteristics and self-reported practices on students' Algebra achievement while controlling for students' characteristics. This study is based on the secondary analysis of data collected from a nationally representative sample of 9 th grade students and their mathematics teachers during…

For the thirty-seventh year, the Research and Theory Division and the Division of Instructional Design of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) sponsored the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. This year's Proceedings…