Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a widely used programming paradigm in modern software industry. This makes it an essential skill for students in many disciplines to learn. However, OOP is known to be challenging to learn and teach due to its abstract nature. Studies have shown that students often face difficulties and develop misconceptions…

The 21st-century mathematics classrooms should equip learners with well-grounded knowledge and thinking skills pertaining to geometry. However, Euclidean geometry remains one of the challenging, if not the most difficult topic for many learners. As a result, the purpose of this article is to interpret Grade 12 learners' learning difficulties in…

A study of transition metals includes studying the physical and chemical properties of first-row d block metals in the Periodic Table. The curriculum on transition metals emphasizes learning the physical and chemical properties and is a lecture-based strategy that is predominately employed by teachers to transfer the knowledge on properties of the…

Although numerous studies have investigated how technology affects academic achievement, very few have focused on the purpose of the use of technology in mathematics education. This current study examines how student teachers (STs) benefit from GeoGebra as one of the Dynamic Geometry Software (DGS) while solving continuity problems. In order to…

Concrete manipulatives and dynamic geometry software (DGS) are both commonly used for geometry education in elementary and middle schools. This study sets out to understand which of the two approaches was better in improving the conceptual understanding of quadrilaterals for fifth graders. A pre-/post-test design was conducted in which the same…

The research assessed secondary school students' conceptions of acid-base strengths by using the conceptual change instruction accompanied with concept maps and analogies. These teaching strategies were employed to help them make unfamiliar events familiar. Within a quasi-experimental design, the sample of the study consisted of 73 secondary…

The purpose of this study was twofold: to investigate students' concept images about class, object, and their relationship and to help them enhance their learning of these notions with a visualization tool. Fifty-six second-year university students participated in the study. To investigate his/her concept images, the researcher developed a survey…

Computer simulation has significant potential as a supplementary tool for effective conceptual-change learning based on the integration of technology and appropriate instructional strategies. This study elucidates misconceptions in learning on diodes and constructs a conceptual-change learning system that incorporates…

Students are frequently presented with novel visualizations introducing scientific concepts and processes normally unobservable to the naked eye. Despite being unfamiliar, students are expected to understand and employ the visualizations to solve problems. Domain experts exhibit more competency than novices when using complex visualizations, but…

The teaching of introductory computer programming seems far from successful, with many first-year students performing more poorly than expected. One possible reason for this is that novices hold "non-viable" mental models (internal explanations of how something works) of key programming concepts which then cause misconceptions and difficulties. An…

Visual representations are ubiquitous in modern-day science textbooks and have in recent years become an object of criticism and scrutiny. This article examines the extent to which changes in representations in textbooks published in the USA over the past six decades have invited those critiques. Drawing from a correlational analysis of a corpus…

The purpose of this study was to determine (1) strategies students use when solving composition problems and the difficulties they encounter; (2) conceptions and/or misconceptions students have with respect to composition of functions; and (3) the effect of using dynamic visualization during instruction on students' understanding of composition of…

Students' understanding of object-oriented (OO) program execution was studied by asking students to draw a picture of a program state at a specific moment. Students were given minimal instructions on what to include in their drawings in order to see what they considered to be central concepts and relationships in program execution. Three drawing…