This paper presents and evaluates a role-play simulation called 'Theatrical Technology Assessment', in which students learn about complex stakeholder dynamics around emerging technologies. This role-play combines insights from Constructive Technology Assessment, improvisational theatre and educational role-play designs. It was implemented in an…

To aid in teaching dialogue skills a virtual simulator called "Communicate!" was developed at Utrecht University. Teachers can build scenarios for students to practice dialogues with a virtual character. In two experiments (n = 128 and 133, a year apart), we investigated if and how "Communicate!" can be an effective aid to…

Election simulations are considered a viable tool to instigate democratic learning in schools. This paper reports an explorative qualitative inquiry into one type of simulation project: mock-elections (ME). Main objective was to gain an insight into the organization of ME-practices in eight schools in the Netherlands in 2012. Thematic analysis of…

Going beyond simply measuring the effectiveness of a teaching approach with computer simulations during whole-class science instruction, we investigated the interaction between teachers and their students as well as searched for mechanisms in the pedagogical context related to teachers' implementation of the intervention. Our quasi-experimental…

We study project-based, technology-enhanced learning environments in higher education, which should produce, by means of specific mechanisms, learning outcomes in terms of transferable knowledge and learning-, thinking-, collaboration- and regulation-skills. Our focus is on the role of objects from professional practice serving as boundary objects…

This article evaluated the impact of a four-lesson science module on the attitudes of secondary school students. This science module (on cancer and modern biotechnology) utilises several design principles, related to a social constructivist perspective on learning. The expectation was that the module would help students become more articulate in…

Although self-regulated learning is considered as a characteristic of individual students, the question may be raised as to whether a community of learners with its emphasis on inquiry learning in teams of students provides an appropriate environment to acquire and develop active and dynamic self-regulation strategies. Two cases of communities of…