Visual scaffolding, a type of scaffolding provided in a visual format, is considered to have potential in web-based learning environments as it naturally includes tacit information, highlights the critical features of tasks and promotes learning through the spatial organization of tasks. However, systematic approaches to visual scaffolding design…

The use of visual metaphors has received growing attention in recent years, but their widespread use is not without certain challenges. The most common critique of visual metaphors in teaching indicates that they can be misleading as the meaning attributed by the recipient can be far apart from the intended one. This can make learning less…

In this paper I analyze students' conceptual understanding of the quality of polynomial approximation. In particular, I analyze to what extent the interactive play with various methods of interpolation enables the students to build visual pictures that help understanding the formal mathematical statements. The role of the Mathematica software in…

Database technology affects many disciplines beyond computer science and business. This paper describes two animations developed with images and color that visually and dynamically introduce fundamental relational database concepts and querying to students of many majors. The goal is for educators in diverse academic disciplines to incorporate the…

The growing popularity of data visualization due to increased amounts of data and easier-to-use software tools creates an information literacy skill gap for students. Students in an Information Technology Management graduate course were exposed to data visualization not only through their textbook reading but also through a data visualization…

In design studio, sketching or visual thinking is part of processes that assist students to achieve final design solutions. At Queensland University of Technology's (QUT's) First and Third Year industrial design studio classes we engage in a variety of teaching pedagogies from which we identify "Concept Bombs" as instrumental in the…

This paper presents trial evaluation of a visual computer simulator in 2009-2011, which has been developed to play some roles of both instruction facility and learning tool simultaneously. And it illustrates an example of Computer Architecture education for University students and usage of e-Learning tool for Assembly Programming in order to…

This paper explores the value of employing multiple modalities to facilitate science learning with technology. In particular, it is argued that when multiple modalities are employed, learners construct strong relations between physical movement and visual representations of motion. Body interactions with visual representations, enabled by…

In this study the effects of a remedial spelling training approach were evaluated, which systematically combines certain visualization and verbalization methods to foster students' spelling knowledge and strategy use. Several achievement and test anxiety data from three measurement times were analyzed. All students displayed severe spelling…

In this paper we describe the results that we have obtained while integrating algorithm visualization (AV) movies (strongly tightened with the other teaching material), within a first-year undergraduate course on algorithms and data structures. Our experimental results seem to support the hypothesis that making these movies available significantly…

The teaching of introductory computer programming seems far from successful, with many first-year students performing more poorly than expected. One possible reason for this is that novices hold "non-viable" mental models (internal explanations of how something works) of key programming concepts which then cause misconceptions and difficulties. An…

We present findings regarding the state of the field of Algorithm Visualization (AV) based on our analysis of a collection of over 500 AVs. We examine how AVs are distributed among topics, who created them and when, their overall quality, and how they are disseminated. There does exist a cadre of good AVs and active developers. Unfortunately, we…

A quantitative, quasi-experimental study of the effectiveness of computer-based scientific visualizations for concept learning on the part of Year 11 physics students (n = 80) was conducted in six Queensland high school classrooms. Students' gender and academic ability were also considered as factors in relation to the effectiveness of teaching…

Visual representations are ubiquitous in modern-day science textbooks and have in recent years become an object of criticism and scrutiny. This article examines the extent to which changes in representations in textbooks published in the USA over the past six decades have invited those critiques. Drawing from a correlational analysis of a corpus…

Electrochemistry is found to be a difficult topic to learn due to its abstract concepts that involve three representation levels. Research showed that animation and simulation using Information and Communication Technology can help students to visualize and thus enhance students' understanding in learning abstract chemistry topics. As a result, an…