The purpose of this study was to describe and understand the range of outcomes of class visits to natural history museums. The theoretical framework is based on the multifaceted process of learning in free choice learning environments, and emphasizes the unique and individual learning experience in museum settings. The study's significance is in…

This paper tested the deep-level reasoning questions effect in the domains of computer literacy between eighth and tenth graders and Newtonian physics for ninth and eleventh graders. This effect claims that learning is facilitated when the materials are organized around questions that invite deep-reasoning. The literature indicates that vicarious…

Betty's Brain is a computer-based learning environment that capitalizes on the social aspects of learning. In Betty's Brain, students instruct a character called a Teachable Agent (TA) which can reason based on how it is taught. Two studies demonstrate the "protege effect": students make greater effort to learn for their TAs than they do…

Although many researchers have examined knowledge building in traditional settings and distance learning, few have examined middle school students' building of mathematical knowledge using mobile phones. The present study uses two well-known models of knowledge building to carry out the examination: the interactive analysis model of knowledge…

The ideas presented in this lecture are based on the observation of processes of construction and consolidation of knowledge by individual students learning in groups within classrooms along a sequence of activities. Whereas the uniformity of the basic elements used to describe the knowledge construction processes may be seen as inclusive, there…

The author explored the potential to promote students' understanding of difficult science concepts through an examination of the inter-relationships among the teachers' instructional approach, students' learning preference styles, and their levels of learning process. The concept "air pressure," which requires an understanding of…

Emotions such as interest and anxiety are part of the learning process as well as cognition and motivation. In view of this, educational science should take emotional aspects of instruction into account. The "ECOLE"-approach ("Emotional and Cognitive Aspects of Learning") presented in this paper is a theoretically guided…

The purpose of this report is to examine how well students in Massachusetts are meeting the Goals of Education, as measured by the Massachusetts Education Assessment Program (MEAP). The first section of this report defines various levels of proficiency and then compares different groups within the student population in terms of the percentages…