The expanding use of data in modern society for prediction and decision-making makes it a priority for mathematics instruction to help students build sound foundations of inferential reasoning at a young age. This study contributes to the emerging research literature on the early development of informal inferential reasoning through the conduct of…

Researchers have documented difficulties that elementary school students have in understanding volume. Despite its importance in higher mathematics, we know little about college students' understanding of volume. This study investigated calculus students' understanding of volume. Clinical interview transcripts and written responses to volume…

The concept of multiple representations of functions and the ability to make translations among representations are important topics in secondary school mathematics curricula (Moschkovich, Schoenfeld, & Arcavi, 1993; NCTM, 2000). Research related to students in this domain is fruitful, while research related to teachers is underdeveloped. This…

The concept of multiple representations of functions and the ability to make translations among representations are important topics in secondary school mathematics curricula (Moschkovich, Schoenfeld, & Arcavi, 1993; NCTM, 2000). Research related to students in this domain is fruitful, while research related to teachers is underdeveloped. This…

Threshold concepts are essential ideas about the natural world that present either a barrier or a gateway to a deep understanding of science. Weight, mass, and gravity are threshold concepts that underpin students' abilities to understand important ideas in all fields of science, embodied in the performance expectations in the Next Generation…

A goal of this study was to examine elementary preservice teachers' (PSTs) ability to contextualize and decontextualize fraction subtraction by asking them to write word problems to represent fraction subtraction expressions and to choose prewritten word problems to support given fraction subtraction expressions. Three themes emerged from the…

This study explores in-service teachers' attitudes and knowledge about a pressing environmental issue, "global climate change" (GCC), and how these may relate to their classroom teaching. In this work, nineteen teachers from Native American communities attended a professional development workshop that focused on enhancing their…

One goal of physics instruction is to have students learn to make physical meaning of specific mathematical expressions, concepts, and procedures in different physical settings. As part of research investigating student learning in statistical physics, we are developing curriculum materials that guide students through a derivation of the Boltzmann…

This study explores biology undergraduates' misconceptions about genetic drift. We use qualitative and quantitative methods to describe students' definitions, identify common misconceptions, and examine differences before and after instruction on genetic drift. We identify and describe five overarching categories that include 16 distinct…

The purpose of this study was to enhance the teaching and learning of matter and its properties for grade 6 students. The development of a conceptual change approach instructional unit was undertaken for this purpose. Pre- and post-concept surveys, classroom observations, and student and teacher interviews were used to collect data. The teaching…

Graduates with well-developed capabilities in finance are invaluable to our society and in increasing demand. Universities face the challenge of designing finance programmes to develop these capabilities and the essential knowledge that underpins them. Our research responds to this challenge by identifying threshold concepts that are central to…

This article examines the impact of programming robots on sequencing ability in early childhood. Thirty-four children (ages 4.5-6.5 years) participated in computer programming activities with a developmentally appropriate tool, CHERP, specifically designed to program a robot's behaviors. The children learned to build and program robots over three…

This study designed a learning system to facilitate elementary school students' fraction learning. An experiment was carried out to investigate how the system, which runs on multi-touch tabletop versus tablet PC, affects fraction learning. Two groups, a control and experimental, were assigned. Control students have learned fraction by using tablet…

The nature of science is a prevalent theme across United States national science education standards and frameworks as well as other documents that guide formal and informal science education reform. To support teachers in engaging their students in authentic scientific practices and reformed teaching strategies, research experiences for teachers…

Electricity and magnetism are important topics in physics. Research shows that students have many common difficulties in understanding concepts related to electricity and magnetism. However, research to improve students' understanding of electricity and magnetism is limited compared to introductory mechanics. This thesis explores issues…