Traditionally, novice programmers have had difficulties in three distinct areas: breaking down a given problem, designing a workable solution, and debugging the resulting program. Many programming environments, software applications, and teaching tools have been developed to address the difficulties faced by these novices. Along with advancements…

Students with high intrinsic motivation often out-perform students with low intrinsic motivation. However, little is known about the processes that lead to these differences. In education based on simulations or authentic electronic learning environments, this lack of insight is even more clear. The present study investigated what students…

This paper describes a study of the cognitive complexity of young students, in the pre-formal stage, experiencing the dragging tool. Our goal was to study how various conditions of geometric knowledge and various mental models of dragging interact and influence the learning of central concepts of quadrilaterals. We present three situations that…

Computers were invented to help mathematicians perform long and complicated calculations more efficiently. By the time that a computing area became a familiar space in primary and secondary schools, the initial motivation for computer use had been submerged in the many other functions that modern computers now accomplish. Not only the mathematics…

The purpose of this study was to compare the relative effectiveness of live (SERT) and computer-based (iSTART) reading strategy training. Prior to and after training, participants read scientific texts and self-explained after each sentence. They also answered comprehension questions. Students showed improvement in the quality of their…

Not so long ago, the common response of teachers to high school use of computer algebra systems (CAS) was invariably along the lines of, "What will be left to teach if our students have access to devices which solve, factorise, do calculus and more?" and "If students use such tools, then they will never learn how to do their mathematics, and their…

The purpose of this article is five-fold: (1) to elaborate on mathematical pedagogy, the application of mathematics, the misunderstanding and the myth around this powerful language; (2) to explain the differences between theoretical solutions and constructive solutions; (3) to explain the influence of technology and its pivotal--in many cases,…

No longer do students need to wait for us to be the purveyors of information. They now have the world at their fingertips. Putting a laptop in the hands of every student has far reaching implications on the way we educators have to think about our classrooms. Old models of stand and deliver are no longer effective. We must learn to be facilitators…

Purpose: The increased pressure to incorporate communication technologies into learning environments has intensified the attention given to the role of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in academic settings. However, the issue of how and why these technologies, especially synchronous CMC applications, has been given less attention in…

The students of a Mathematical Modeling and Problem Solving class investigate and explore the mathematics involved in fitting a box spring mattress up a stairwell by solving various optimization problems and by using The Geometer's Sketchpad. The results show that a very small fraction of the class was actually able to solve the problem without…

Cooperative learning has been proven to be helpful in enhancing the learning performance of students. The goal of a cooperative learning group is to maximize all members' learning, which is accomplished via promoting each other's success, through assisting, sharing, mentoring, explaining, and encouragement. To achieve the goal of cooperative…

To meet the challenges of fast-paced globalization and a more demanding high-tech environment of the future, it is imperative to train students for equipping with relevant abilities and competencies, especially in online literacy and communication skills, and assist them to build correct technology attitude and belief. Student teachers'…

The use of computer technology in Kenyan schools is a relatively new approach that is currently being included in the school curriculum. The introduction of computer technology for use in teaching does not always seem to be accepted outright by most teachers. The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to investigate the teachers' changing…

The article argues that we make best use of learning technologies if we begin with an understanding of educational problems, and use this analysis to target the solutions we should be demanding from technology. The focus is to address the issue from the perspective of teachers and lecturers (the "teaching community"), and to consider how…

While different approaches to evaluation will yield different results, depending on the purpose of the evaluation this article describes an evaluation approach that was aimed at investigation of the mental models of users of the programme. The study was driven by questions about the differences in mental models of the instructional designers and…