While some engineering students develop proper critical thinking skills, most engineering students do not. Engineers must critically think to tackle various problems on the job, but many schools do not properly instill critical thinking in engineering students. With engineers working on multiple tasks in little time, a knowledge of critical…

This case study investigated the relationship between five undergraduate interior design students' reasoning with numerical units and reasoning about length and area. The multiplicative concepts frame participants' coordination of numerical units. Differences were found between participants' reasoning about length and area, based on their…

Although student covariation reasoning has been explored in depth to improve understanding of the correspondence between variables, research has focused on studying existing reasoning about variables in Cartesian representations. The working method had a qualitative approach, with a descriptive exploratory scope, the spontaneous representations…

To date, of the many studies on early algebraic thinking, none, to our knowledge, has examined the relationships between algebraic thinking and negative numbers. Students encounter persistent difficulties in dealing with these numbers, and we believe that these could be addressed through the development of algebraic thinking. We are particularly…

This study's purpose was to analyse the relationship between geometric thinking skills with self-regulated learning and with students' basic geometry skills. Furthermore, analyze student errors in solving geometry problems based on their self-regulated learning to determine the optimal geometry learning environment for geometry thinking skills.…

Problem decomposition into sub-problems or subgoals and recomposition of the solutions to the subgoals into one complete solution is a common strategy to reduce difficulties in structured problem solving. In this study, we use a datadriven graph-mining-based method to decompose historical student solutions of logic-proof problems into Chunks. We…

Existing literature reviews of calculus learning made an important contribution to our understanding of the development of mathematics education research in this area, particularly their documentation of how research transitioned from studying students' misconceptions to investigating students' understanding and ways of thinking per se. This paper…

Reflective thinking skills are thought to be an important factor affecting the success of problem solving both routine and non-routine science problems. This research aimed to determine the relationship between eighth-grade students' reflective thinking skills toward problem-solving and their level of solving routine and non-routine science…

Present and future social and ecological challenges are complex both to understand and to attempt to solve. To comprehend the complex systems underlying these issues, students need systems thinking skills. However, in science education, a uniform delineation of systems thinking across contexts has yet to be established. While there seems to be…

The ability to synthesize and communicate complicated problems with confidence is paramount for success in STEM fields, but programs tend to overemphasize memorization. We conducted a preliminary study to determine if asking students to repeatedly link materials: (1) improved students' ability to build connections; and (2) increased students'…

Logic and science are in some respects fundamentally different disciplines, in that for example, application of rules of logic can yield conclusions that are at odds with physical reality. Not surprisingly, people have ample difficulty with logical thinking. Nonetheless, in some instances, logical thinking can fuel empirical decision making. In…

Open-ended problem-solving skills have been identified as employable skills, which undergraduate students will need to have in order to cope with real-life problems in their workplaces after graduation. However, the development and assessment of these skills have been inconsistent across courses offered in universities. This research examined…

The Lawson classroom test of scientific reasoning is a quite popular and widely used tool that measures the level and development of the student's scientific reasoning skills. In this contribution, the results of this test for the N=446 students of the Faculty of Science Palacký University Olomouc from the years 2018-2020 at the beginning of their…

This study compares Malaysian and Korean geometry content in mathematics textbooks to help explain the differences that have been found consistently between the achievement levels of Malaysian and South Korean students in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Studies have shown that the use of textbooks can affect…

Learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is challenging, leaving many students to give up on these subjects. Specifically, females are underrepresented in STEM industries. Identifying how male and female students deal with STEM learning challenges, and how this relates to learning outcomes, may inform teaching that best…