One of the most well-known instructional methods used to enhance Chinese character reading (CCR) is Chinese stem-deriving instruction (CSDI). In this method, CCR is taught via a group of characters (e.g., [foreign character omitted], [foreign character omitted], and [foreign character omitted]) that share the same stem (e.g., [foreign character…

This study investigated the extent to which different pedagogical gestures contribute to learners' foreign or second language (L2) narrative recall, and further discussed how task complexity and task difficulty (i.e. working memory capacity or WMC) influence recall performance. Sixty-four adolescent learners, assigned to four different gesture…

Background: A wide range of studies has offered suggestions why genetics is difficult and some of their key findings are summarised. Underpinning all of this is the way the brain works when handling information. The limitations of working memory capacity offer an interpretation of these difficulties. Purpose: The aim is to confirm that working…

The aim of physics education is to generate understanding of physics and there is considerable anecdotal evidence that passing examinations in physics is not the same as understanding the subject. This paper describes how the areas of difficulties in understanding of physics were determined for pupils in Taiwan aged 13-15. Test material which…