The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have spurred renewed interest in the epistemologies that students adopt as they engage in science practices. One framework for characterizing students' epistemologies is the "epistemologies in practice" framework (Berland et al. (2016), "Journal of Research in Science Teaching,"…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" call for engaging K-12 students in three-dimensional learning, in which students make sense of phenomena or solve problems by simultaneously using science and engineering practices (SEPs), crosscutting concepts (CCCs), and disciplinary core ideas (DCIs). Decades of education research suggest…

This study aimed to establish a fully 3D modeled immersive virtual reality (IVR) system for primary school students learning about plants and evaluate teachers' perceptions of the usage of the system and pupils' flow experiences and learning attitudes. There were 5 teachers with expertise in science and IVR experience who were first interviewed to…

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of modelling and the materials designed with augmented reality technology on the academic success of students, their motivation, and their interest levels towards the science course. The study was conducted in 6th grade science units on "Support and Movement Systems" and…

This study was aimed to investigate the effectiveness of augmented reality and modeling-based teaching in the "Solar System and Eclipses" unit. The pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design model was used in this study. For three weeks, the "Solar System and Eclipses" unit of the Science course was taught to the experimental…

Modeling and simulation activities are common in secondary technology and engineering education classrooms. Virtual simulations are used to integrate engineering design into classroom instruction. The performance outcomes of a student's final virtual design usually depend on the level of knowledge application. When applying the learned content to…

The frequentist and classical models of probability provide students with different lenses through which they can view probability. Prior research showed that students may bridge these two lenses through instructional designs that begin with a clear connection between the two, such as coin tossing. Considering that this connection is not always…

As computational models are becoming more widely used with the release of "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" (NRC 2012) and the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS"; NGSS Lead States 2013), these models are reshaping the way science is practiced in increasingly diverse classrooms. For students classified…

Traditional museums of culture and history are failing to develop or make effective use of augmented reality (AR) technology. To address this deficit, the present study sought to develop online and offline experiential AR learning tools that would enable children to more fully explore museum artefacts. The study approach was based on the Blended…

Survey respondents use different response styles when they use the categories of the Likert scale differently despite having the same true score on the construct of interest. For example, respondents may be more likely to use the extremes of the response scale independent of their true score. Research already shows that differing response styles…

Computer science (CS) and computational thinking (a problem-solving process used by computer scientists) teach students design, logical reasoning, and problem solving--skills that are valuable in life and in any career. Computational thinking (CT) concepts such as decomposition teach students how to break down and tackle a large complex problem.…

An aggregation strategy is proposed to potentially address practical limitation related to computing resources for two-level multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) models with large data sets. The aggregate model is derived by integration of the normal ogive model, and an adaptation of the stochastic approximation expectation maximization…

We present a logistic function of a monotonic polynomial with a lower asymptote, allowing additional flexibility beyond the three-parameter logistic model. We develop a maximum marginal likelihood based approach to estimate the item parameters. The new item response model is demonstrated on math assessment data from a state, and a computationally…

Two objectives guided this research. First, this study examined how well teachers' tracking decisions contribute to the homogenization of their students' achievements. Second, the study explored whether teachers' tracking decisions would be outperformed in homogenizing the students' achievements by statistical models of tracking decisions. These…

In an influential paper, Jesse Rothstein (2010) shows that standard value-added models (VAMs) suggest implausible and large future teacher effects on past student achievement. This is the basis of a falsification test that "appears" to indicate bias in typical VAM estimates of teacher contributions to student learning on standardized…