Latinx is the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. As a result, the demographic landscape of colleges across the nation is also changing to reflect this new reality. However, many Latinx students are still not finishing college at the same rate as other ethnic groups. One area of research that is lacking regarding Latinx students is…

Educators have long questioned why some students can experience achievement more easily in some school subjects/curriculum, but not in others. We argue that learners cannot ignore navigating two key features inherent within every curriculum--its cognitive demands as well as its opportunities for access to knowledge that are the twin foci of this…

In response to healthcare reform, nursing education needs to expand beyond linear thinking and towards conceptual thinking as patients' needs become more complex. Concept mapping is an interactive visual tool that may encourage many cognitive and emotive processing tasks. The aim of this study was to explore the effectiveness of concept mapping in…

This paper reports on a framework of thinking, memory and learning that emerged from a qualitative research study into the nature of learning for individuals with autism. The framework is useful for professional development of teachers regarding the learning characteristics of neurodiverse students with autism spectrum disorder. The paper provides…

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) presents postsecondary educators with a conundrum: how to design and support small-group activities without stifling deep and meaningful learning. The literature indicates that students are not consistently practicing higher-order cognitive activities, educators are not reliably designing or…

The aim of this study was to determine the preferred cognitive learning patterns among secondary students and their effect on their achievement in physics. To achieve the objective of the study, the researcher designed a scale of cognitive learning patterns (VAK) that consisted of (16) items, and after verifying its validity and reliability, it…

Comprehensive understanding of complex biological systems necessitates the use of computational models because they facilitate visualisation and interrogation of system dynamics and data-driven analysis. Computational model-based (CMB) activities have demonstrated effectiveness in improving students' understanding and their ability to use and…

Science students' study success rates in the first year of higher education (FYHE) are problematic. Although a considerable amount of previous research has been carried out to investigate the determinants of students' academic achievement in FYHE, there has been little discussion about the incremental value of non-cognitive factors over and above…

This study starts from the observation that current empirical research on students' processing strategies in higher education has mainly focused on the use of self-report instruments to measure students' general preferences towards processing strategies. In contrast, there is a rather limited use of more direct and online observation techniques to…

One of the facets of geographic literacy is the ability to think in a structured way about geographic relationships. Geospatial technologies offer many opportunities to stimulate students' geographic relational thinking. The question is: How can these opportunities be effectuated? This paper discusses the results of a process-oriented experiment…

Thoughtful implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) (CCSSI 2010) presents an opportunity for increased emphasis on the development of mathematical understanding among students. Granted, ascertaining the mathematical understanding of an individual student is highly complex work and often exceedingly difficult.…

This study investigates problem-solving difficulties of novices in a classroom setting, using a German instructional tool, the Fischertechnik kit of approximately 400 parts. In order to analyse the students' thinking processes as they solved the problems, verbal protocol analysis (VPA) was used to record the students'' thinking processes and…

Many studies have explored the contribution of different factors from diverse theoretical perspectives to the explanation of academic performance. These factors have been identified as having important implications not only for the study of learning processes, but also as tools for improving curriculum designs, tutorial systems, and students'…

This study examined school factors related to the learning style preferences of gifted Korean American students. The "Learning Styles Inventory-III" ("LSI"; Renzulli, Rizza, & Smith, 2002) and the "Ethnic Orientation Scale" ("EOS") were administered to 407 Korean American students in 30 schools. A…

Based on a critical re-analysis of cognitive load theory (CLT), Schnotz and Kurschner identified the need for research on more sensitive ways of assessing learner characteristics, both prior to and during instruction, in order to understand learning processes and outcomes. One emergent theme of the papers in this special issue is that the "same"…