Multiple external representations (MERs) are useful for teaching complex content in science education. An open question is whether there is an especially effective way to sequence MERs. On the one hand, the so-called concreteness fading approach suggests starting instruction with more concrete representations and proceeding stepwise to more…

In 2017, the Department of Biology at Virginia Wesleyan University modified its two-course introductory sequence in response to high DFW rates (>50% scoring a D, F, or withdrawing) in the first semester. The revised curriculum created a new third course and moved content that many students struggled with from the first semester to the third…

Capturing and measuring instructional patterns by using standardized observation manuals has become increasingly popular in classroom research. While researchers argue that a common vocabulary of teaching is necessary for the field of classroom research to move forward, instructional features vary across classrooms and contexts, which poses…

Purpose: The increasing need for student engagement and the wide availability of digital teaching resources are providing opportunities for careful consideration and planning of assignments within and among business management courses. This paper aims to examine implementation strategies for integrating multiple business simulations with gradually…

One way to reduce the cognitive load students feel during instruction is to change the way content is delivered. This can be achieved by optimising the instructional sequence and providing sufficient instructional support during problem-solving. However, the literature is unclear regarding whether an inductive or a deductive instructional sequence…

The high-probability (high-p) instructional sequence typically consists of the delivery of a series of high-p instructions immediately followed by the delivery of a low-probability (low-p) instruction and is a commonly used procedure to increase compliance among children with intellectual disabilities. In the current study, we used withdrawal…

In the context of a professional learning research project we investigated the nature of support offered to classroom teachers and school mathematics leaders to facilitate teachers' implementation of sequences of challenging tasks. End of year questionnaire data were collected from 70 Foundation to Year 2 teachers and ten numeracy leaders who…

It is easy to dismiss the work of "teaching students to apply formula" as a low-order priority and thus trivialises the professional knowledge associated with this practice. Our encounter with an experienced teacher--through the examination of her practices and elaborations--challenges this simplistic assumption. There are layers of…

This study tested how different implementations of explaining and drawing activities affect learning from a multimedia science lesson. After studying a multimedia slideshow about the human respiratory system, college students (n = 145) were assigned randomly to one of four learning activity conditions: write explanations before drawing pictures…

We investigated whether the temporal contiguity effect, which holds that information sources, such as visual information and narration need to be temporally coordinated for learning to be effective, can also be found in narrated slideshows. A concurrent presentation-key point format (CPK), in which visual information sequentially appeared as key…

Numerous studies illustrate the value of simulations or project-based learning approaches to enhance the learning of science. Simulations can help students connect across macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic representations of scientific phenomena, while project-based learning can provide a meaningful narrative and activities for students to…

Fractions are an important mathematical concept for elementary students. However, students with mathematics learning disabilities (MLD) struggle with learning fractions. Research has demonstrated that concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) instruction is an effective practice for students with learning and developmental disabilities. Here we…

This paper outlines the rationale for, and some elements of, a particular approach to teaching and learning mathematics in the early years. The researchers worked with two school systems to offer both centrally delivered and school-based teacher professional learning, which included the application of illustrative teaching resources. The project…

Whether to engage student preconceptions to facilitate conceptual change is an area of debate among conceptual change theorists. Here, we evaluate the efficacy of a preconceptions-based instructional sequence about groundwater previously described by (Arthurs, 2019). To assess the impact this instructional sequence had on facilitating the…

Science content remains a commonly overlooked academic content area for students with severe disabilities, including ASD and ID, despite recent research. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of systematic instruction, such as prompting and fading techniques, implemented during whole-group science instruction for students with both…