Studying physics for nonphysics majors at college level is usually a process of learning new problem-solving skills and sometimes seems a frustrating experience. In an attempt to provide students with more learning resources, online homework was required to supplement the instruction. This study reveals the role of the online homework assignments…

In 2000, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study was conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It is a worldwide study of 15-year-old students' performance in mathematics, science and reading skills. The study showed relatively poor results for German students' scientific literacy…

The focus of the current study is to understand which unique features of an immersive virtual reality environment have the potential to improve learning relative motion concepts. Thirty-seven undergraduate students learned relative motion concepts using computer simulation either in immersive virtual environment (IVE) or non-immersive desktop…

Complex multistep problem exercises are one way to enhance engineering students' learning of electromagnetics (EM). This study investigates whether exposure to complex problem exercises during an introductory EM course improves students' conceptual and procedural knowledge. The performance in complex problem exercises is compared to prior success…

Providing exploratory activities prior to explicit instruction can facilitate learning. However, the level of guidance provided during the exploration has largely gone unstudied. In this study, we examined the effects of 1 form of guidance, feedback, during exploratory mathematics problem solving for children with varying levels of prior domain…

The impact of personalizing mathematical word problems and rewording them for explicitness was tested with 68 second and 59 fifth graders. Second graders benefited from personalization and rewording in combination; fifth graders benefited from personalization, not rewording. Personalization makes problems more motivating and easier to represent…