This study used eye-movement tracking to investigate how students engage with the learning process of reading science articles with or without hands-on manipulation of a pulley system and their influences on learning outcomes. This experiment used a 2 (reading easy or difficult articles) × 2 (with or without hands-on manipulation) between-subject…

Cognitive load theory's incorporation of evolutionary perspectives has generated several instructional designs based on movement, including the tracing effect, occurring when learners benefit from explicit instructions to trace out specific elements of lesson materials with the index finger. Historical descriptions of children's tracing behaviours…

Background & Aims: Cognitive load theory assumes that the higher the learner's prior knowledge (i.e., the more expert the learner), the lower the intrinsic cognitive load (complexity) experienced for a given problem. While this is the case in many scenarios, there can be cases in which the converse is also true, resulting in more expert…

Pedigree problems are typical tasks in school genetics classes. However, they are perceived as difficult and often are not successfully completed. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine relevant factors that might have an impact on success in pedigree analysis. Based on previous research, we investigate the influence of the…

Arithmetic word problems are a staple in mathematical curricula yet give individuals of all ages difficulty. Successful word problem solving requires translating the problem into a symbolic arithmetic format. However, the linguistic component may make problem solving more complex and increase cognitive load, specifically the processes that…

Why do people shift their strategies for solving problems? Past work has focused on the roles of contextual and individual factors in explaining whether people adopt new strategies when they are exposed to them. In this study, we examined a factor not considered in prior work: people's evaluations of the strategies themselves. We presented…

Teachers have difficulty integrating proof in their mathematics instruction due to both narrow beliefs about proofs and limited understanding of proofs. Indirect proofs seem to be a particular cause for concern. In this exploratory study, we contribute to the research area by reporting on an empirical study of Norwegian pre-service teachers'…

The aim of the study was to examine how students generate problems about the concept of series, and how they evaluate and solve these problems. The difficulties experienced by the students while posing problems and their perceptions of the posing-evaluating-solving approach were also explored. In the first stage, 46 second-year university students…

Teaching is a process for which its plan should contain reflection onto previous experience. With that in mind, teaching situations should be continuously researched and improved in accordance with the research results. Led by this thought and the fact that students are uncritically using visualization to solve mathematical problems, we defined…

Resilience is a critical personality trait that allows one to deal with difficulties, learn from failures, and maintain a positive attitude during task performance. However, it has not been understudied in a complex and challenging educational domain. The current research intends to address this gap by analyzing the specific characteristics of…

This study examined the effects of worked examples with different explanation types and novices' motivation on cognitive load, and how this subsequently influenced their programming problem-solving performance. Given the study's emphasis on both instructional approaches and learner motivation, the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning served as…

Purpose: The National Academy of Medicine has called for "identifying opportunities to improve the diagnostic process". We studied the association between problem representation and diagnostic accuracy during an objective structured clinical exam (OSCE). Materials and methods: We conducted a non-randomized controlled trial during a…

In this paper, we consider the issues involved in creating appropriate problems for a popular mathematics competition, and how such problems differ from problems typically encountered in a classroom. We discuss the differences and similarities in school curricula versus the generally agreed upon topics encountered in international competitions.…

Complex problem solving is one of the skills desired in the 21st century workforce. Students can improve their problem-solving skills by working on homework problems, and creating new problems can be a stimulating and inventive exercise for student as well. Our previous studies explored the impacts of a novel homework pedagogy where students…

This article presents a novel digital method of capturing finger-based gestures on touchscreen devices for the purpose of exploring tracing gestures in educational research. Given that tracing has been found to support cognition, learning, and problem solving in educational settings, data related to the performance of these gestures are…