The purpose of this quantitative non-experimental study was to evaluate the gender stereotyping in picture books from a classroom library collection that primary school students use for independent reading in the classroom. Using the Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade fiction books from the classroom library collection from Booksource, this research…

Spatial reasoning plays a vital role in choice of and success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers, yet the topic is scarce in grade school curricula. We conjecture that this absence may be due to limited knowledge of how spatial reasoning is discussed and engaged across STEM professions. This study aimed to address…

The purpose of this study was to enhance our understanding of the relationship between collaborative talk and metacognitive talk during group mathematical problem-solving. Research suggests that collaborative talk may mediate the use of metacognitive talk, which in turn is associated with improved learning outcomes. However, our understanding of…

Children are known to use different types of referential gestures (e.g., deictic, iconic) from a very young age. In contrast, their use of non-referential gestures is not well established. This study investigated the use of "stroke-defined non-referential" 'beat' gestures in a story-retelling and an exposition task by twelve 6-year-olds,…

In this paper, we present data from a study exploring the use of coding to promote mathematical thinking. A teaching experiment was undertaken with 40 Year 2 students participating in six 45-minute lessons of coding (one lesson per week for six weeks). All lessons were video-recorded and analysed to determine students' mathematical thinking.…

Cross-curricula opportunities afforded by STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education), supports an environment where students can develop twenty-first century competencies. One approach to addressing cross-curricula opportunities in STEM education is the introduction of computer science (computer…

Intuitions are incomplete knowledge structures that help us make sense of the world around us. Additionally, when learners are given opportunities to talk about their intuitive understanding, it helps construct their knowledge in a domain (music). The issue with intuitions and intuitive responses is not whether they are correct or incorrect, but…

This article presents a study of how groups of young students discuss illustrations of human blood circulation. Transparency is not an innate quality of illustrations, visual information is always coded and interpretations are always related to culture and context. Results of this study are discussed with reference to Kress and van Leeuwens'…

This explorative case study longitudinally examines teacher orchestration of an inquiry learning process in a technology-enhanced elementary classroom. A 13-month investigative study on cultural artifacts was conducted on 32 fourth grade students who progressed to the fifth grade during the project. The activities were mediated and documented…

Considering the importance attached to writing as a life skill, this study investigated the nature and variability of adults' aid to Zambian second graders in the context of shared writing in Bemba (first language), and the relations between this support and students' literacy and cognitive-metalinguistic skills. Fifty-seven children and their…

Engineering design challenges offer important opportunities for students to learn science and engineering knowledge and practices. This study examines how students' engineering notebooks across four units of the curriculum "Engineering is Elementary" (EiE) support student work during design challenges. Through educational ethnography and…

Equity in mathematics classroom discourse is a pressing concern, but analyzing issues of equity using observational tools remains a challenge. In this article, we propose equity analytics as a quantitative approach to analyzing aspects of equity and inequity in classrooms. We introduce a classroom observation tool that focuses on relatively…

One of the challenges many learning scientists face is the laborious task of coding large amounts of video data and consistently identifying social actions, which is time consuming and difficult to accomplish in a systematic and consistent manner. It is easier to catalog observable behaviours (e.g., body motions or gaze) without explicitly…

The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between teacher discourse around social norms, student mathematical roles, and student mathematical explanations in the classroom. Mathematical explanations are important for learning mathematics and professional organizations encourage their use in the classroom. This study sought to…

Autonomy support in classrooms is believed to coordinate students' inner motivational resources in ways that enhance student engagement (e.g., Jang, Kim, & Reeve, 2012). Yet, to our knowledge, no study has investigated student-generated interpretations of the motivational significance of their teachers' autonomy-supportive practices.…