Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content through Text (PACT) and similar team-based models directly engage and support students in learning situations that require cognitive elaboration as part of the processing of new information. Elaboration is subject to metacognitive control, as well (Karpicke, "Journal of Experimental…

In this article I present some results from a 5-year longitudinal investigation with young students about the genesis of embodied, non-symbolic algebraic thinking and its progressive transition to culturally evolved forms of symbolic thinking. The investigation draws on a cultural-historical theory of teaching and learning--the theory of…

We tested whether mental rotation training improved math performance in 6- to 8-year-olds. Children were pretested on a range of number and math skills. Then one group received a single session of mental rotation training using an object completion task that had previously improved spatial ability in children this age (Ehrlich, Levine, &…

Project-based learning may enhance students' cognitive skills and knowledge construction. Online discussion stimulates the social interactions of project-based learning, and appropriate cognitive tools (such as concept maps) facilitate the coordination, planning, and implementation of projects. Currently, related studies on project-based learning…

We tested whether mental rotation training improved math performance in 6- to 8-year-olds. Children were pretested on a range of number and math skills. Then one group received a single session of mental rotation training using an object completion task that had previously improved spatial ability in children this age (Ehrlich, Levine, &…

Beginning with the assumption that young children are capable of producing unprecedented knowledges about science phenomena, this paper explores the complexities of children's inquiries within open-ended investigations. I ask two central questions: (1) how can we (teachers, researchers, and children themselves) use and build upon…

Promoting mathematical creativity is one of the aims of mathematics education. This study investigates the tasks teachers chose when their aim was to occasion mathematical creativity in the classroom. Five cases are described in depth, and general trends found among these cases as well as in additional data are discussed. Findings indicated that…

In this article, we obtain a genetic decomposition of students' progress in developing an understanding of the decimal 0.9 and its relation to 1. The genetic decomposition appears to be valid for a high percentage of the study participants and suggests the possibility of a new stage in APOS Theory that would be the first substantial change in…

As part of a larger study to understand instructors' considerations regarding the learning and teaching of problem solving in an introductory physics course, we investigated beliefs of first-year graduate teaching assistants (TAs) regarding the use of example solutions in introductory physics. In particular, we examine how the goal of promoting…

Learners of English as a foreign language often find it difficult to understand figurative speech, which relies heavily on metaphor. This article explores why metaphors challenge learners and presents ways to incorporate metaphors into EFL instruction to help learners understand figurative speech. Topics discussed include cognitive metaphor,…

Character development in higher education is a complex process. This process has often been delegated to a single course on ethics or courses on religion. The authors of this article pose an alternative higher educational process whereby character development is rooted in a series of abilities that are contextualized throughout the entire…

Scaffolding is an important tool for meeting the challenging needs of heterogeneous groups of students in inclusive classrooms. It is especially useful when supporting low achievers. A video study (funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, Project Nr. 134652) of 36 inclusive classes, (3rd grade, aged 9 years), was conducted to examine how…

In this paper we propose i-SERF (integrated-Self Evaluated and Regulated Framework) an integrated self-evaluated and regulated framework, which facilitates synchronous and asynchronous education, focusing on teaching and learning in higher education. The i-SERF framework is a two-layered framework that takes into account various elements of…

The present article focuses on teacher competencies as a major factor that impacts student learning. Ultimately, all attempts to improve education converge in the teacher and the quality of his/her work with students. With their teaching methods, their communication and their classroom management, teachers can structure the kind of learning…

This article takes the view that grammar is driven by user choices and is therefore complex and dynamic. This has implications for the teaching of grammar in language teacher education and how teachers' cognitions about grammar, and hence their own grammar teaching, might change. In this small, interpretative study, the participants--students on…