There has been a long-standing debate on situational and symbolic mathematics, which is associated with how to design and execute mathematics education for all students. Brain studies can give some clues for how to deal with the debate. There are situational, verbalized, and visuospatial brain networks and the connectivity among the networks,…

Teaching conceptions in higher education, or so-called academics' conceptions of teaching (ACTs), are essential in informing teaching behaviors and influencing students' learning. Consequently, several attempts have been made since the 1990s to understand what ACTs represent and how they can be developed towards student-centered teaching. However,…

The purpose of this article is to add to the debate on the normative status and legitimacy of indoctrination in education by drawing on the political philosophy of Benedict Spinoza (1632-1677). More specifically, I will argue that Spinoza's relational approach to knowledge formation and autonomy, in light of his understanding of the natural…

Since formal mathematics is discussed in terms of abstract symbols, many students face difficulties to acquire a clear understanding of mathematical concepts and ideas. Transforming abstract or dis-embodied representations of mathematical concepts and ideas into embodied representations is a strategy to make mathematics more tangible and…

This paper describes applying a new brain-based instructional approach called "Tailored Instructions and Engineered Delivery using Protocols" (TIED UP) in an engineering classroom. Brain-based strategies leverage our knowledge about the functioning of the human brain to deliver the course information effectively. Although brain-based…

Several studies have pointed out difficulties of various types encountered by students in both secondary and high schools to acquire the exact meaning of the integral and to master the ability to invest it correctly in different domains. This contribution attempts to explore the effectiveness of some cognitive activities engaged in teaching…

This quasi-experimental study aims to compare the effects of using combinations of written text, animation and narration in multimedia courseware. 114 sixth grade students assigned in three conditions were participated in the study. Three versions of the courseware with combinations of animation, text and narration were developed taking modality…

Structural reasoning is a combined ability to "look for structures, recognize structures, probe into structures, act upon structures, reason in terms of general structures, and see how a piece of knowledge acquired resolves a perturbation experienced" (Harel and Soto, 2017). The purpose of this study was to explore the cognitive…

Object-oriented programming distinguishes between instance attributes and methods and class attributes and methods, annotated by the "static" modifier. Novices encounter difficulty understanding the means and implications of "static" attributes and methods. The paper has two outcomes: (a) a detailed classification of aspects of…

In cognitive load theory, the superiority of the Example-Problem sequence over the Problem-Example sequence has become a classic paradigm. The comparative effectiveness of these sequences, however, is subject to the influence of the factors of element interactivity and prior knowledge, and studies have examined these influences focused mostly on…

Even after research-based instruction, students who demonstrate the ability to assemble relevant conceptual knowledge on one physics question may have difficulty assembling that same knowledge on a closely related problem. Recent research has suggested that reflexive, bottom-up reasoning processes seemingly unrelated to the physics concepts…

The hammer-and-nail phenomenon highlights human tendency to approach a problem using a tool with which one is familiar instead of analyzing the problem. Pedagogical suggestions are offered to help students minimize their mathematical impulsivity, cultivate an analytic disposition, and develop conceptual understanding.

"Complex systems" is a general-purpose reasoning scheme, used in a wide range of disciplines to make sense of systems with many similar entities. In this paper, we examine the generality of this approach in learning chemistry. Students' reasoning in chemistry in terms of emergent complex systems is explored for two curricula: a normative…

Cognitive conflict arises when students' expectation about a physical situation, such as the relative temperatures of metal and cloth, are not experimentally verified. The paper reviews this approach as a tool for promoting conceptual learning in undergraduate engineering courses, through three case studies. These cases demonstrate that cognitive…

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of a digital game designed within the framework of hierarchic interactionalism theory on the development of the concept of area in secondary school students. The digital game used in this study was designed after being influenced by the preliminary concepts and skills related to the concept of area…