Effective teamwork is a crucial transferrable skill for students' learning experience during their studies and future careers. Understanding the making of effective teams, how teams differ from mere groups of individuals, and the potential value and challenges of diversity for team performance is essential for students as current and future team…

Research Findings: Although it is well documented that toy play and book sharing shape communication between adults and children in different ways, relatively few studies have compared teacher-child interactions in the two activities. The aim of this observational study was to describe and compare the conversational functions of teachers' and…

The author analyzed popular YouTube toy play videos, reviewing the range of storylines and their impact and influence. She argues that, although such videos may contribute to the commercialization of toys and play, they may also facilitate development of fine motor skills, socialization, and learning. She notes that, as with all Internet content,…

This study explores humour's role in a holistic craft process when 7-8-year-olds design personalised soft toys. Humour enhances learning environments by fostering joy, belonging and a positive atmosphere, acting as a motivational tool in experiential and arts-based learning. The study aims to answer the following questions: (1) What are the…

The term "functional play" is used widely and variably in serving young children who have developmental delays, affecting its use in research and practice. It also is confused with play as a functional goal. We reviewed studies that used the term. Of 146 reports, less than half included a definition. We organized those with definitions…

Studies into early mathematics education have reported that play, and active exploration, provide promising settings for early mathematics education (Ginsburg, 2006) as the early years is a time to engage children in a range of mathematical ideas to develop their mathematical capability (MacDonald, 2018). More recently, the Australian Association…

This program focused on work in elementary mathematics and science with activities using Lego bricks and plates. Pre-service teachers self-evaluated teaching efficacy beliefs after a 6-hour, professional development session. Participant ratings of overall teaching efficacy and personal efficacy appeared to be acceptable, while participant rating…

A child's home environment has been shown to be related to the development of early numeracy skills in some countries. However, significant relationships between home learning environment and math achievement have not consistently been found, and likely vary across different cultural and socio-political contexts. Here we explored the home…

How can teachers take a traditional field trip and turn it into a component of a rich learning unit? The author found success in connecting a science, technology, and design class to the experiences students engaged in during a recent trip to a zoo. While students were focused on creating an enrichment toy for animals, the true enrichment was in…

This paper reports from a case study which explores kindergarten children's mathematical abstraction in a teaching--learning activity about reflection symmetry. From a dialectical perspective, abstraction is here conceived as a process, as a genuine part of human activity, where the learner establishes "a point of view from which the concrete…

This study examined parent-child math talk within three contexts (formal learning; guided play; unguided play) in order to identify characteristics of activities supporting high-quality math engagement. Seventy-two dyads of parents and 4- and 5-year-olds were observed using a set of toy foods; instructions and materials varied across conditions.…

This article discusses one specific form of makerspace for children -- hereafter, referred to as (un)makerspace -- whose activities consist mainly in dismantling discarded toys and electronics, characterised as a global makerspace. The article presents the activities of children participating in a number of makerspaces in Melbourne, Australia. The…

Block building activities help develop students' spatial reasoning, but few studies focus on the development of block building skills beyond preschool. We worked with four kindergarten, four first grade, and four second grade students to learn more about their Lego block building. We compared students' accuracy, building strategies, and spatial…

Primary school students find it difficult to grasp concepts related to electricity. On the other hand, tangible user interfaces, such as Makey-Makey, offer an interesting alternative for teaching this subject. In order to examine whether the above holds true, a pilot project was carried out, having as a target group 75 students aged 10-11, divided…

Purpose: This paper aims to propose a maker's approach to teaching an operating systems (OSs) course in which students apply knowledge of OSs to making a toy robot by focusing on input/outputs, hardware devices and system programming. Design/methodology/approach: Classroom action research is involved in this study. Findings: After the course was…