Tools to measure autism knowledge are needed to assess levels of understanding within particular groups of people and to evaluate whether awareness-raising campaigns or interventions lead to improvements in understanding. Several such measures are in circulation, but, to our knowledge, there are no psychometrically-validated questionnaires that…

Reasoning for complexity is a fundamental competency in these complex times for solutions to social problems and decision-making. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the validity and reliability of the eComplexity instrument by presenting its psychometric properties. The instrument consists of a Likert-type scale questionnaire designed to…

We present the design, statistical analysis, and validation of a questionnaire to assess students' knowledge about basic aspects of quantum mechanics (QM). The QM evaluation (QME) is a true-false and multiple-choice mixed questionnaire that features 10 two-tier items spanning three relevant themes in quantum mechanics: wave behavior of matter,…

This research examined whether the informational advantage of an animation over a static picture (and over no visualizations as a control condition) can be compensated by presenting the information in the text that constitutes this informational advantage. In addition, it was investigated whether learners' spatial abilities acted as a compensator…

In this paper we report on the outcomes of two surveys carried out in higher education institutions of Ireland; one of students attending first-year undergraduate non-specialist mathematics modules and another of their lecturers. The surveys aimed to identify the topics that these students found difficult, whether they had most difficulty with the…

Photosynthesis is the most important biochemical process on Earth. Most living beings depend on it directly or indirectly. Knowledge about photosynthesis enables us to understand how the world functions as an ecosystem and how photosynthesis acts as a bridge between the non-living and living worlds. It is, therefore, understandable that…

This study explores the extent to which topic and background knowledge of topic affect spoken performance in a high-stakes speaking test. It is argued that evidence of a substantial influence may introduce construct-irrelevant variance and undermine test fairness. Data were collected from 81 non-native speakers of English who performed on 10…

Video lectures are being widely used in online and blended learning classes worldwide, and their learning effectiveness is becoming a focus of many educators and researchers. This study examined the cognitive load and learning effectiveness of video lectures in terms of the type of knowledge being taught (declarative or procedural) and instructor…

When teachers or instructors create computer-based learning environments, they often solely consider technical aspects of interactivity. As a consequence, learners' main role is to respond to requests of the learning environment (e.g. by answering multiple-choice questions). This aspect of interactivity is, however, not sufficient to understand…

As part of a study examining how teachers in Singapore select and use examples for teaching mathematics, 121 teachers from 24 secondary schools responded to three open-ended questions about the use of examples in teaching. The results show that students' abilities and the difficulty level of the examples were among the topmost considerations…

The objective structural practical examination (OSPE) is a timed examination that assesses topographical and/or applied knowledge of anatomy with the use of cadaveric resources and medical images. This study investigated whether elements of question design (provision of clinical context, type of visual resources used, gender context, and…

Background: Education Standards highlight the importance of conceptual knowledge. Instructional tasks play a key role in biology instruction and offer learning opportunities for students. Tasks contain of a content and a demands part. Therefore, complexity and cognitive level are adequate variables to describe tasks and are assumed effective for…

Several theoretical models have been constructed to determine the effects of buisness simulation games (BSGs) on learning performance. Although these models agree on the concept of learning-cycle effect, no empirical evidence supports the claim that the use of learning cycle activities with BSGs produces an effect on incremental gains in knowledge…

Students' self-efficacy expectations (SEE) in mathematics are associated with their engagement and learning experiences. Going beyond previous operationalisations of SEE we propose a new instrument that takes into account not only "facet-specificity" (expectations related to particular competences or skills) and "strength"…

Are South Africans financially literate, and how can this be measured? Until 2009 there was no South African financial literacy measure and, therefore, the aim was to develop a South African measurement instrument that is scientific, socially acceptable, valid and reliable. To achieve this aim a contextual and conceptual analysis of financial…