The purpose of the study is to reveal the elementary mathematics student teachers' difficulties encountered in the solution of a modelling problem, the strategies to overcome those difficulties and whether the strategies worked or not. Nineteen student teachers solved the modelling problem in their four or five-person groups, and the video records…

This paper describes the outcomes of a qualitative investigation into the range of different approaches that students use to solve open-ended, context rich problems. The study involved a small cohort of students individually solving open-ended, context-rich problems using a think aloud protocol. The problems required the students to develop a…

This study examined how 12- and 13-year-old students' mathematics and science background knowledge affected line graph interpretations and how interpretations were affected by graph question levels. A purposive sample of 14 students engaged in think aloud interviews while completing an excerpted Test of Graphing in Science. Data were…

This paper discusses the findings of a qualitative study on the strategies employed by Iranian freshmen in extensive listening. A group of 12 freshman university students were purposefully selected based on their scores in the Oxford Placement Test administered. Four learners were identified as advanced, four as intermediate, and four as lower…

This article discusses measuring learning strategies by means of questionnaires. In "multi-method" research, in which think-aloud measures are compared with questionnaires, low or moderate correlations are found. A conclusion often drawn is that learners are not able to verbally report on their learning activities. Alternative explanations concern…

Simulation-based computer-assisted learning (CAL) is emerging as new technologies are finding a place in mainstream education. Dynamically linked multiple representations (DLMRs) is at the core of simulation-based CAL. DLMRs includes multiple visual representations, and it enables students to manipulate one representation and to immediately…

This study investigates problem-solving difficulties of novices in a classroom setting, using a German instructional tool, the Fischertechnik kit of approximately 400 parts. In order to analyse the students' thinking processes as they solved the problems, verbal protocol analysis (VPA) was used to record the students'' thinking processes and…

In order to better understand how to design hands-on child-computer interaction, we explore how different styles of interaction facilitate children's thinking while they use their hands to manipulate objects. We present an exploratory study of children solving a spatial puzzle task. We investigate how the affordances of physical, graphical…

Offering help functions is a standard feature of computer-based interactive learning environments (ILE). Nevertheless, a number of recent studies indicate that learners are not using such help facilities effectively. We compared the effects of different metacognitive supports to foster learners' help-seeking behavior in an ILE for plant…

This study reviews theories supporting the construction of student knowledge and found they rely upon theoretical operations with few pragmatic applications. A new paradigm of learning needs to emerge which focuses on how students actually construct their own knowledge, based on reconstructing current/past knowledge or experience, and their…

What is the connection between student success and their approaches to learning? Do learning approaches develop with university experience? We explored these questions by constructing profiles using a specially developed fixed response instrument and administering this to students at two similar South African universities. Groups consisted of…

Since the publication of the Standards for Technological Literacy in 2000 (ITEA), there have been a number of new programs developed that are designed to teach pre-engineering. Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is one such program. Project Lead the Way boasts serving over 1250 schools in 44 states and teaching over 160,000 students. Another program is…

This study examined the influence of critical reading orientation on use of external strategies such as note-taking and underlining while reading an expository text. In two experiments, undergraduate students were asked either to review an article on a linguistic policy (critical reading) or to summarise it (less-critical reading). Experiment 1…

A study examined in detail the initial encoding of worked-out examples of mechanics problems by "good" and "poor" students, and their subsequent reliance on examples during problem solving. The subjects, three males and five females, were selected from responses to a university campus advertisement. Six of them were working…

Combines methods to probe the learning strategies of two unsuccessful learners as they completed four activities (an interview, a verb exercise, a cloze passage, and a composition). These unsuccessful learners, when viewed through a task demand model, emerged as active strategy users, though they sometimes applied strategies inappropriately. (38…