We report on a study of the effects of laboratory activities that model fictitious laws of physics in a virtual reality environment on (i) students' epistemology about the role of experimental physics in class and in the world; (ii) students' self-efficacy; and (iii) the quality of student engagement with the lab activities. We create…

The Beer-Lambert law is a fundamental relationship in chemistry that helps connect macroscopic experimental observations (i.e., the amount of light exiting a solution sample) to a symbolic model composed of system-level parameters (e.g., concentration values). Despite the wide use of the Beer-Lambert law in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum…

The paper proposes EXPLODE, a new model of exploratory learning environment for teaching and learning neural networks. The EXPLODE model is about pedagogically instrumenting a software development environment to transform it into an exploratory learning environment for neural networks. Such an environment is particularly aimed for students who are…

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…

Blended learning sets solid foundations for the utilization of educational technology in authentic student learning experiences within traditional educational contexts as well as in distance education. The author introduces an integrated and distributed model of blended learning, utilizing educational technology for authentic student learning…

Online learning has attracted a large number of participants and is increasingly becoming very popular. However, the completion rates for online learning are notoriously low. Further, unlike traditional education systems, teachers, if any, are unable to comprehensively evaluate the learning gain of each student through the online learning…

This descriptive narrative depicts an academic program that deploys a collaborative project model for delivering concurrent multimedia courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Applying this model, online master's students who are studying the management of technical communication activities remotely manage teams of on-campus undergraduate…

In the current document, an integrative CBT-TTF framework is created, which proposes: technologies that require large amounts of working memory are best at improving outcomes that require little working memory to develop, and vice versa. Then, a meta-analysis of virtual reality (VR) training programs (which require great amounts of working memory)…

The Bifocal Modelling Framework (BMF) is an approach for science learning which links students' physical experimentation with computer modelling in real time, focusing on the comparison of the two media. In this paper, we explore how a Bifocal Modelling implementation supported learning outcomes related to both content and metamodeling knowledge,…

Three-dimensional models are important when the learning content is difficult to acquire from 2D images or other traditional methods. This is the case for learning dental morphology. In this paper, we present a mobile augmented reality (AR) system for learning dental morphology. A study with students was carried out to determine whether learning…

Understanding key concepts in molecular biology requires reasoning about molecular processes that are not directly observable and, as such, presents a challenge to students and teachers. We ask whether novel interactive physical models and activities can help students understand key processes in viral replication. Our 3D tangible models are…

Neuroanatomy is one of the most challenging subjects in anatomy, and novice students often experience difficulty grasping the complex three-dimensional (3D) spatial relationships. This study evaluated a 3D neuroanatomy e-learning module, as well as the relationship between spatial abilities and students' knowledge in neuroanatomy. The study's…

Spatial thinking is often challenging for introductory geology students. A pilot study using the Augmented Reality sandbox (AR sandbox) suggests it can be a powerful tool for bridging the gap between two-dimensional (2D) representations and real landscapes, as well as enhancing the spatial thinking and modeling abilities of students. The AR…

This study aims to assess whether the handling of concrete ball-and-stick molecular models promotes translation between diagrammatic representations and a concrete model (or vice versa) and the coordination of the different types of structural representations of a given molecular structure. Forty-one Algerian undergraduate students were requested…

The combination of Open Sim and Scratch4OS can be a worthwhile innovation for introductory programming courses, using a Community of Inquiry (CoI) model as a theoretical instructional design framework. This empirical study had a threefold purpose to present: (a) an instructional design framework for the beneficial formalization of a virtual…