Resonance is a crucial concept in Organic Chemistry that enables both deriving chemical properties from molecular structures and predicting reactions by considering electron density distribution. Despite its importance for problem-solving and learning success, learners encounter various difficulties with this concept. Although prior research…

Do children consider how others learned when seeking help? Across three experiments, German children (N = 536 3-to-8 year olds, 49% female, majority White, tested 2017-2019) preferred to learn from successful active learners selectively by context: They sought help solving a problem from a learner who had independently discovered the solution to a…

This paper presents a fine-grained process analysis of 22 students in a classroom-based learning setting. The students engaged (and failed) in problem-solving attempts prior to instruction (i.e., the Productive-Failure approach). We used the HeuristicsMiner algorithm to analyze the data of a quasi-experimental study. The applied algorithm allowed…

The study examines language dimensions of mathematical word problems and the classification of mathematical word problems according to these dimensions with unsupervised machine learning (ML) techniques. Previous research suggests that the language dimensions are important for mathematical word problems because it has an influence on the…

Recent approaches to statistics education situate the teaching and learning of statistics within cycles of statistical inquiry. Learners pose questions, plan, and collect, represent, analyse and interpret data. We focus on the first step -- posing statistical questions. Posing statistical questions is a critical step as questions inform the types…

Universities face the challenge of constantly improving the quality of higher education and changing the learning behaviour of students, from passive reactive learning to active self-regulated learning. Learner-centred, constructively designed learning tasks offer a great opportunity here. This paper investigates to what extent the learning…

Intuitive knowledge seems to influence human decision-making outside of consciousness and differs from deliberate cognitive and metacognitive processes. Intuitive knowledge can play an essential role in problem solving and may offer the initiation of subsequent learning processes. Scientific discovery learning with computer simulations leads to…

This article explores the relative importance of different socio-demographic and practice-oriented factors that are related to proficiency in problem solving in technology-rich environments (PSTREs) and by extension may be related to complex problem solving (CPS). The empirical analysis focuses on the proficiency measurements of PSTRE made…

Conceptions of learning are seen as an important factor in shaping students' patterns of learning. However, conceptions are often implicit and difficult to assess. Metaphors have been proposed as a method to assess conceptions, because metaphors are closely linked to the conceptual system. Therefore, in our study we assessed which conceptions of…

The general purpose of the study was to promote the research on effects of physical activity on mathematical performance and brain functions, which is of particular interest regarding children's education as well as for all adults. Several studies have identified an influence of cycling on cognitive processes and brain activity. In the present…

It is well known that the regulation of processes is an important factor in problem solving from Grade 7 to university level (cf. Mevarech & Kramarski, 1997; Schoenfeld, 1985). We do not, however, know much about the problem-solving competencies of younger children (cf. Heinze, 2007, p. 15). Do the results of studies also hold true for…

This paper focuses on an inferential view on introducing new concepts in mathematics classrooms. A theoretical framework is presented which helps to analyse and reflect on the processes of teaching and learning mathematical concepts. The framework is based on the philosophies by Ludwig Wittgenstein and Robert Brandom. Wittgenstein's language-game…

The aim of the study was to describe, categorise and analyse students' (aged 14-16) processes of scientific inquiry in biology and chemistry education. Therefore, a theoretical structure for scientific inquiry for both biology and chemistry, the VerE model, was developed. This model consists of nine epistemological acts, which combine processes of…

Despite a great deal of research on the benefits of writing in mathematics, writing plays a minimal role, if any, in secondary and tertiary mathematics education. In order for teachers to use writing in their classrooms, they themselves have to experience writing mathematics within the teacher education programme. The present paper reports on a…

The work in the Comenius Network project Developing Quality in Mathematics Education II (DQME II) has a main focus on development and evaluation of modelling tasks. One reason is the gap between what mathematical modelling is and what is taught in mathematical classrooms. This article deals with one modelling task and focuses on how two teachers…