Feature engineering, the construction of contextual and relevant features from system log data, is a crucial component of developing robust and interpretable models in educational data mining contexts. The practice of feature engineering depends on domain experts and system developers working in tandem in order to creatively identify actions and…

Research suggests that there is not enough integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into subject teaching by graduate teachers across a variety of school settings. This points in part to the inadequacy of preservice teacher preparation. Hence, this research explores the question of how preservice teachers develop the…

Simulations that combine real world components with interactive digital media provide a rich setting for students with the potential to assist knowledge building and understanding of complex physical processes. This paper addresses the problem of modeling the effects of multiple students' simultaneous interactions on the complex and exploratory…

This study explores middle school student learning of Next Generation Science Standards aligned content and practices associated with use of an innovative virtual learning environment. The learning environment, a computer-based game called Mission HydroSci (MHS), was developed with the aim of supporting student learning of water systems science…

The method of competences level automated management is developed for student's competences formation. An insufficient level of schools graduates in physics is identified as the modern problem of the education. Teacher does not specify which step in a solution a student can not cope with, and the student reiterates his mistake in other tasks…

The purpose of the observational study was to investigate whether spaces in Second Life (SL) displaying interactive scientific exhibits can become potential avenues to promote inquiry in teaching scientific concepts. 42 SL spaces (islands) were selected using inclusion/exclusion criteria out of 155 spaces that were found using three different…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect on student understanding of Newton's Third Law in an introductory calculus-based physics class when a new graphical representational tool called a system schema was used throughout instruction to help visualize objects and interactions between them explicitly. The system schema serves as an…

This article reports the use of a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) instruction designed to help students develop understanding of image formation by lenses. The study aims to investigate how students, working in dyads and mediated by multimedia Computer-assisted learning (CAL) programs, construct shared knowledge and understanding.…

This paper is concerned with the role of spreadsheets as a tool for the development of mathematical models in science, one aspect of a collaborative project which worked with two groups of pre-university students from Mexico and the United Kingdom. The purpose of the modeling activities designed was to engage students in creating an…

This paper examines the impacts of instructional technologies on K-12 science instruction. The first section addresses the question, "What is technology?" The dimensions of technology identified by the International Technology Education Association are summarized, and definitions of technology from the American Association for the…

This paper summarizes one semester's use of a class LISTSERV with a graduate elementary science education course (n=9). Data were collected on student comments regarding the class LISTSERV from nonstructured interviews, E-mail inquiries, and an end-of-semester questionnaire. Student feedback indicated that student interest in communication…

This study explored the use of an inquiry-based interactive multimedia program to identify the process by which students' higher order thinking skills developed in a science classroom. Videotapes of students' interactions with computers were analyzed to identify the use of higher order thinking skills. The Macintosh multimedia research package…

The paper deals with the facts obtained from TIMSS 2003 (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study). This international comparative study, which includes 47 participant countries worldwide, explores dependence between eighth grade students' achievement in the areas of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and geography, and basic…

In response to a serious shortage of chemists in South Africa, gifted secondary school students are enrolled in an enrichment program in organic chemistry and encouraged to consider chemistry or one of its related fields as a career. The introductory portion of the program involves approximately 90 hours over a 3-year period while the advanced…

This document contains the following papers on science from the SITE (Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education) 2001 conference: (1) "Using a Computer Simulation before Dissection To Help Students Learn Anatomy" (Joseph Paul Akpan and Thomas Andre); (2) "EARTH2CLASS: A Unique Workshop/On-Line/Distance-Learning…