The present article investigates the effects of epistemic beliefs (i.e. beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing) on the effectiveness of information literacy instruction (i.e. instruction on how to search for scholarly information in academic settings). We expected psychology students with less sophisticated beliefs (especially…

Student-centered learning environments with upside-down pedagogies (SCALE-UP) are widely implemented at institutions across the country, and learning gains from these classrooms have been well documented. This study investigates the specific design feature(s) of the SCALE-UP classroom most conducive to teaching and learning. Using pilot survey…

Many educational researchers have investigated how best to support conceptual learning in science education. In this study, the aim was to design learning materials using Physlets, small computer simulations, and to evaluate the effectiveness of these materials in supporting conceptual learning in secondary school physics. Students were taught in…

Open educational resources (OERs) provide a potential alternative to costly textbooks and can allow content to be edited and adapted to a variety of classroom environments. At the University of California, Davis, the OER "ChemWiki" project, as part of the greater STEMWiki Hyperlibrary, was developed to supplant traditional post-secondary…

In an "ex post facto" causal-comparative research design, this study investigated the effectiveness of a formative writing assessment program, Write Score, on increasing student writing achievement. Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) reading language arts and writing scores from 2012 were utilized for this study. The…

In this study, we present quantitative findings on the effects of English-Spanish dual language immersion on student achievement in science and mathematics in grades 3, 4, and 5. The research aims to present empirical evidence documenting the impact of dual language immersion, reveal analytical techniques utilizing nonparametric measure of similar…

We investigated the roles of classroom supports for multiple motivations and engagement in students' informational text comprehension, motivation, and engagement. A composite of classroom contextual variables consisting of instructional support for choice, importance, collaboration, and competence, accompanied by cognitive scaffolding for…

Student preparation for class is an integral part of the college learning experience. In order to incentivize student preparation outside class, professors have employed such techniques as reflection papers, quizzes, and group discussion, to name but a few. This article explores the benefits of using a technique known as "course preparation…

This study investigated the development of representational competence among organic chemistry students by using 3D (concrete and virtual) models as aids for teaching students to translate between multiple 2D diagrams. In 2 experiments, students translated between different diagrams of molecules and received verbal feedback in 1 of the following 3…

This study was conducted with 98 prospective science teachers, who were composed of 50 prospective teachers that had participated in problem-solving applications and 48 prospective teachers who were taught within a more researcher-oriented teaching method in science laboratories. The first aim of this study was to determine the levels of…

Learners often anecdotally report preferring live instructors to videotaped lectures, but few controlled comparisons exist, and none have been conducted for foreign language learning. College students experienced a single foreign language lesson in an unknown foreign language, Samoan, either from a live instructor or from a videotape of the same…

The authors examined the role of problem sets on student learning in university microeconomics. A total of 126 students participated in the study in consecutive years. independent samples t test showed that students who were not given answer keys outperformed students who were given answer keys. Multiple regression analysis showed that, along with…

As online learning is an important part of higher education, the effectiveness of online learning has been tested with different methods. Although the literature regarding online learning effectiveness has been related to various factors, a more comprehensive review of the factors may result in broader understanding of online learning…

This study examined the effects of guided elaboration on students' learning outcomes in a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment. The programme provided students with feedback on their elaborations, and students reflected on this feedback. It was expected that students in the experimental (elaboration) programme would show…

Given the increasing costs associated with commercial textbooks and decreasing financial support of public schools, it is important to better understand the impacts of open educational resources on student outcomes. The purpose of this quantitative study is to analyze whether the adoption of open science textbooks significantly affects science…