This study employs the Experiential Learning Theory framework to investigate students' use of a wildfire simulation. We analyzed log files automatically generated by middle and high school students (n = 1515) as they used a wildfire simulation and answered associated prompts in three simulation-based tasks. We first analyzed students' log files to…

Students struggle with observing scientifically and connecting observations to scientific theory. This study investigates how students actually use observation in rock classification -- a classical practical task in science education. To describe the level of students' use of observation, data was collected by videotaping 19 small student groups…

This study drew on observations of 40 secondary English language arts, history, and science lessons to describe variation in opportunities for students to engage in argumentation and possible implications for student engagement and learning. The authors focused their analysis on two broad dimensions of argumentation tasks: (1) "Instructional…

It has been theorized that contextual tasks support student engagement and sense making. Yet, contradictory ideas exist about the role of these tasks in lessons, and further research is needed to explore how classroom interactions can help achieve their intended purposes. Through video observation of lessons in three eighth-grade classrooms using…

In this study, we investigated teachers' teaching practices and their underlying beliefs regarding context-based tasks to find a possible explanation for students' difficulties with these tasks. The research started by surveying 27 Junior High School teachers from seven schools in Indonesia through a written questionnaire. Then, to further examine…

In view of ongoing debates about the future of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in contexts of English as a foreign language (EFL), we present a detailed case study of teacher beliefs and practices regarding TBLT conducted in a secondary school in mainland China with a long history of communicative and task-based teaching approaches. We used a…

Task based learning (TBL) or Task based learning and teaching (TBLT) is a communicative approach widely applied in settings where English has been taught as a foreign language (EFL). It has been documented as greatly useful to improve learners' communication skills. This research intended to find the effect of tasks on students' spoken interaction…

The current longitudinal study examines the similarities and differences between primary and secondary foreign language curricula and pedagogy along with the development of motivation for language learning and second language proficiency. Data from 26 English learners of French (aged 10-11) were collected across three times points over a 12-month…

This article introduces a theoretical framework for studying school improvement processes such as making school environments safer. Using concepts from spatial theory, in which distinctions between mental, social and physical space are applied makes for a multidimensional analysis of processes of change. In a multilevel case study, these were…

Two different video-based procedures for presenting the passage of time (how long a step lasts) were examined. The two procedures were presented within the framework of video prompting to promote independent multi-step task completion across four young adults with moderate intellectual disability. The two procedures demonstrating passage of the…

This study reports on an analysis of students' textbook task-solving in Swedish upper secondary school. The relation between types of mathematical reasoning required, used, and the rate of correct task solutions were studied. Rote learning and superficial reasoning were common, and 80% of all attempted tasks were correctly solved using such…

This exploratory case study investigates pathways taken by a Canadian French immersion high school teacher invested in pedagogical change. To fairly evaluate the successfulness of her attempt to effect change, Cummins' "framework of coercive and collaborative relations of power manifested in macro- and micro-interactions" was employed.…

Robotics provide the opportunity for students to bring their individual interests, perspectives and areas of expertise together in order to work collaboratively on real-world science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) problems. This paper examines the nature of collaboration that manifests in groups of elementary and middle school…

The present study focuses on the accumulation process involved in the integration of a single-variable function. Observing the work of two high-school calculus students who had not yet learned any other integral-related ideas, we analyze the emergence of the semiotic relationship between personal and mathematical meanings, as expressed through the…

Many engineering and technology education classrooms incorporate simulation modeling as part of curricula to teach engineering and STEM-based concepts. The traditional method of the learning process has students first learn the content from the classroom teacher and then may have the opportunity to apply the learned content through simulation…