Background: Virtual manipulatives (VMs) are increasingly adopted in inquiry activities. However, the effects of the ratio of mobile device-based VMs to students and external scripts (a guiding structure for prompting group process) provision on group interaction has not been detailed. Objectives: This study proposed four different technology…

In this article, we describe and analyze the experience of undergraduate chemistry students who scripted episodes of a science podcast for non-expert audiences. This practice aimed to improve public communication of science and technology, often suppressed throughout science careers but relevant for developing critical thinking. In particular, the…

In science classrooms, technology affordance varies depending on device-student ratios (DSR) and the ways virtual manipulatives on mobile devices are used. Additionally, external scripts (ES) are widely used to promote effective group interaction in collaborative learning. Therefore, this research explored the influence of DSR and ES on…

This study investigated the impact of an online peer-review script on students' argumentative peer-review quality and argumentative essay writing. A pre- and post-test experimental design was used with 42 undergraduate students in the field of educational science. Students were randomly divided over 21 dyads and assigned to two conditions…

This study aimed to explore the implementation of project-based learning (PBL) principles in informal STEM education, focusing on the experiences of Underrepresented Racially Minoritized (UUREM) girls during a week-long residential STEM summer camp. Utilizing a single case study design, the researchers investigated how PBL facilitates engagement…

The use of technology has proven to be a successful tool for enhancing the learning of children with disabilities. One example is the use of video-recorded social story movies as interventions for children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Through the use of electronic devices such as iPads, iPods and tablets, social stories are brought to…

This study examines student teachers' collaborative learning by focusing on socio-cognitive and socio-emotional monitoring processes during more and less active script discussions as well as the near transfer of monitoring activities in the subsequent task work. The participants of this study were teacher education students whose collaborative…

Scripts in written or auditory form have been used to teach conversational skills to individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but with the proliferation of handheld tablet devices the scope to combine these 2 formats has broadened. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate if a script-based intervention, presented on an iPad…

Collaborative problem-solving in the classroom is a student-centred pedagogical practice that looks to improve learning. However, collaboration does not occur spontaneously; instead it needs to be guided by appropriate scaffolding. In this study we explore whether a script that explicitly incorporates constructing arguments in collaborative…

Although electronic tools such as handheld computers have become increasingly common throughout society, implementation of such tools to improve skills in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities has lagged in the professional literature. However, the use of visual scripts for individuals with disabilities, particularly those…

One of the challenges that social studies educators face daily is how to make student learning relevant. Digital technologies can play an important role by connecting what happens in the classroom to the world beyond. One way to do this is by turning students into producers of information and having them create content rather than simply consume.…