The "Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education" posits that the practice of asking questions in order to deepen inquiry and understanding is a key element of information literacy. While the "Research as Inquiry" frame is teachable in library instruction, it can be difficult to scale. Popular instructional design…

Competence in fractions is important in achieving advanced mathematics such as algebra and calculus. To foster students' understanding of fractions, intervention studies have found number lines to be an effective representational tool. Yet, it is unclear whether or not number lines are equally effective regardless of the ways in which they are…

Background/Context: Mathematics education, especially at early grade levels, continues to be an important focus for national education improvement efforts, and more districts are introducing technology as part of their solution. Along with increasing consistent delivery of personalized and individualized learning to students, technology- and…

Executive function is the set of cognitive skills needed for goal directed behavior and is a strong predictor of academic success (Best, 2014). The present study examines the effectiveness of a custom video game designed to train the executive function skill of shifting--being able to efficiently shift attention from 1 task to another. In…

Purpose: This study aims to examine the impact of the informational value of feedback choices (confirmatory versus critical feedback) on students' performance, their choice to revise and the time they spend designing posters and reading feedback in a computer-based assessment game, Posterlet. Design/methodology/approach: An empirical correlational…

Background and Context: Pair programming is used in classrooms to promote learning and engage a more diverse group of students in computing fields, but little is known about what it looks like in middle school. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine how programming pairs were interacting and about what. Method: Video, audio, and screen…

Self-beliefs are important determinants of student choice and success (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000) and are informed by student educational experiences, such as prior success with a task (Bandura, 1986). The potential for Computer-Based Interventions as self-belief-supporting learning environments is examined in this study, focusing on the…

We developed the Draw-A-Computer-Scientist-Test (DACST) to better understand elementary school students' conceptions of computer scientists and the nature of their work. By understanding how young children perceive computer scientists, we can broaden their ideas about the activities and images of computer scientists. We administered the DACST to…

People in industrialized countries may be losing their connection with nature. The Get to Know Program (Get to Know) is a multi-faceted program aimed at encouraging direct connection with nature through a variety of activities (observations of wildlife, hiking, creative arts, and special events), specifically among youth. Three studies assessed…

There is widespread agreement that further research is needed in order to identify afterschool program characteristics useful for understanding why some programs are more successful than others. The bulk of recommendations put forth by researchers, practitioners and policy makers focus on observable characteristics of the afterschool setting as a…

Over the past six years, the Pullias Center for Higher Education has been engaged in research designed to better understand the potential of digital tools to increase access to college. Their most recent $3.2 million "First in the World" (FITW) federal grant has enabled the Center to implement and evaluate an online game-based…

Extant literature has largely not examined how users critically engage with their physical activity monitors, as objective data sense-making is often deemed superior to users' subjective realities. Our research, however, examines how middle-school youth encounter the representation of their data, as it is converted and actionable in an online…

This executive summary highlights findings from a larger study that is part of an interrelated series of studies included in the Ready To Learn summative evaluation being conducted by the Education Development Center, Inc.'s (EDC's) Center for Children and Technology and SRI Education's Center for Technology in Learning (EDC/SRI). The purpose of…

This report presents results from the "CPB-PBS Ready To Learn PEG+CAT" Content Study. "PEG+CAT" is a unique transmedia property that emphasizes early mathematics and problem solving. Each episode is structured around a specific mathematical problem the characters are trying to solve together. It includes video episodes,…

Learning physics often requires overcoming common misconceptions based on naïve interpretations of observations in the everyday world. One proposed way to help learners build appropriate physics intuitions is to expose them to computer simulations in which motion is based on Newtonian principles. In addition, playing video games that require…